Question: Why does Tracy start starving herself?
raywest
23rd Sep 2007
Thirteen (2003)
Answer: It was most likely because of her tongue piercing - she didn't want her mom to notice, and it would have been painful.
Answer: As someone else wrote, it could be the tongue piercing, and I think it was also her rebellious attitude. She wanted to be "difficult" by refusing to eat with the family or eat what her mother cooked.
6th Sep 2008
Octopussy (1983)
Question: Was Kristina Wayborn's descent from the balcony (in which she tips herself backwards and slides down using her sari as a rope) really carried out as shown? I would have thought that she should plummet to the ground much faster - too fast to be sure of landing feet first - and risk a broken bone or more. Are we to assume that Bond girls have magical powers or that the sequence was slowed down for dramatic effect?
20th Sep 2008
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Question: When Harry is brought to Dumbledore's office after dreaming about Mr. Weasley being attacked, what does Dumbledore mean with "but in essence divided"?
Answer: J.K. Rowling explained its meaning during an online chat at TheLeakyCauldron.com shortly after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published. Says Rowling, "Dumbledore suspected that the snake's essence was divided - that it contained part of Voldemort's soul, and that was why it was so very adept at doing his bidding. This also explained why Harry, the last and unintended Horcrux, could see so clearly through the snake's eyes, just as he regularly sees through Voldemort's. Dumbledore is thinking aloud here, edging towards the truth with the help of the Pensieve."
6th Nov 2008
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Question: What's the reason why Rafterman doesn't chase after the guy who steals his camera and Joker replies with his own set of "karate moves"?
Answer: Because it's basically a government camera. It's not his personal camera. He'll just go back and report that someone stole his camera and they'll issue him a new one. Not a big deal for that type of equipment, considering they're in a war zone. If they stole his rifle, it probably would have been a bigger deal, but it's just a camera.
6th Nov 2008
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Question: At the end of the movie, during the final feast, there is a teacher sitting next to Snape on the high table. It only shows her once or twice for a second, but I was just curious if anybody knew which teacher she was. Thanks ^^.
6th Nov 2008
General questions
In this movie a princess is going somewhere, traveling alone, and she meets up with three men, two of them dwarves. They end up raping her and then one of them kills her with a club. They end up in a room with with a guy (either her father, or someone that knew her) and this guy finds out that they raped and killed her and he kills them. As I remember, he throws the dwarves against the wall. Please let me know if you know the title of this movie? I saw it back in the 80's.
Answer: This sounds like "The Virgin Spring," directed by Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman.
11th Sep 2008
General questions
What is the title of the fairly recent movie which portrays one black and one white man as brothers?
Answer: It's the 1996 movie, "A Family Thing," starring Robert Duvall and James Earl Jones. After discovering they are half-brothers, two middle-aged men, one white, one black, struggle to bond with one another.
12th Aug 2008
Jurassic Park (1993)
Question: Are the people present at the digging site when they're discussing new approaches to analyzing skeletons supposed to be paleontologists in dr. Grant's group? If so, why would they laugh at his musings of "how dinos learned how to fly"? And why would he have to explain it to them? Seemed to me like he is explaining very basic stuff to the people that would already know this (and of course, to the movie audience).
Answer: They are not paleontologists, just people interested in dinosaurs. It is common for museums and other scientific organizations to offer the general public an opportunity to participate in a real paleontology dig. For a fee, they become an exhibition team member for a period of time, learn about dinosaurs, help excavate fossils, and so on. This is likely how Dr. Grant (or his institution) supplements his research funding.
3rd Aug 2008
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
Question: Near the beginning of the film, in 1946, Rick and Evie are asked to take the Eye of Shangri-La to China as a peace offering from Britain, and a subsequent shot is them arriving in China in 1947. Since the task seems to be of extreme importance, why do they wait an entire year to deliver it?
Chosen answer: For one thing, just because two different years are shown does not mean that a full twelve months passed before they arrived in China. Also, travel to an undeveloped third-world country in the mid 20th century was not like it is today. There were no jet planes, much pre-planning and preparation would have to be done before departure, different modes of transportation would have to be arranged, and there would be many stops, delays, and transfers along the way. This could cumulatively take many months.
30th Jul 2008
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)
3rd Mar 2008
General questions
I can't remember the title of this movie. Maybe someone can help me out. All I remember is a guy on a camel, I believe on the desert, when this other guy appears who looks like he's from a silent film. He says, in subtitles, "You should come to Hollywood. Too bad you don't know how to speak in subtitles."
Answer: This sounds like the Mel Brooks' 1976 comedy, "Silent Movie." There's no dialogue, only subtitles, except for one word spoken at the very end.
10th Jul 2008
Roseanne (1988)
Question: In the episode where Jackie goes to Roseanne's house and complains that she is overdue, she says something along the lines of she will be 80 years old with a 35 year old kid inside her. Well she lifts up her shirt and that pregnant belly looks real. Here's the question, was Jackie pregnant in real life?
Answer: Yes she was. When Laurie Metcalf, who played Jackie, became pregnant during the series, her pregnancy was written into the storyline; her pregnant belly is real. At the end of the episode where Jackie gives birth, there is a photo of Laurie Metcalf in the hospital just after she had her baby.
26th Jun 2008
I Love Lucy (1951)
Question: I know this show is from the time period when a lot of couples had two beds in their room. Just out of curiosity, when did it become acceptable to show a couple's bedroom with a single bed on TV?
Answer: According to Snopes.com, there is no definitive answer, but the mid-1960s is the most verifiable date with "The Munsters" being cited as the first, although others claim "The Brady Bunch" showed the first couple seen in a double bed. An early TV show from the late 1940s titled, "Mary Kay and Johnny" is also thought to have shown the married couple's bedroom as having a double bed, although probably not with them in it. However, this was when TV was aired live, and there are no surviving episodes, only anecdotal accounts.
Something that is funny is that in the movie "A Christmas Story," they show the parents having two twin beds in their bedroom. In a real situation, they should have shown them having a double bed. Lucy and Ricky had twin beds pushed together in an early episode, which would have been pushing television boundaries in that time.
23rd Jun 2008
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)
Question: In "Last Crusade," there is meant to be this guy called Gestapo. I was wondering, who is Gestapo? I am interested as he is played by Pat Roach who played henchmen in the other films.
2nd Jun 2008
Addams Family Values (1993)
Question: Why does the boy scream like a maniac when he spots the Michael Jackson poster on the wall?
Answer: Michael Jackson was slated to record a song and music video for the film. The music video had him living in the Addams family mansion with angry townsfolk trying to drive him out of town for being scary and weird. The scene in the film was suppose to reflect that he scared "normal" kids, it had nothing to do with a scandal. When Evan Chandler started talking about his son being molested by Jackson, the song and music video were pulled and not included with the film. But the poster scene was left in. Later, when the scandal fully broke and more accusation were made, the joke of the scene took on another meaning.
Good thing the accusations were all false! :).
Answer: If memory serves, it's a poster for Heal the World? I think he probably screams because this song was WAY over-played on radio stations at the time! It certainly was in the UK where I am from so I imagine in America it was over-played so much more.
Chosen answer: Not only is it a reference to Jackson's general scary weirdness, but also his alleged pedophilia (child molestation), causing the boy to react in fear.
Impossible, the first pedophilia accusations were made just a few months before the movie came out.
Those accusations had been an open secret for a long time, though.
18th May 2008
Friends (1994)
The One Where Ross And Rachel Take A Break - S3-E15
Question: What exactly is a Shemp? I think that is what Rachel said in this episode when she hung up the phone at work. "There is a Shemp in my office"?
Answer: Rachel is referring to one of the The Three Stooges, which consisted of Moe, Larry, Curly, and also Shemp. Curly Howard, the third Stooge, was later replaced by his real-life brother, who played Shemp. Curly and Shemp played the most unintelligent and bungling member of the trio.
I think she meant "chef" but made a mistake.
Answer: She meant Shemp. He was being a clumsy doofus like one of the Three Stooges and that was the one that came to mind.
21st Apr 2008
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Question: Was there any reason why Vader had Han "tortured" with a machine? Han later tells Leia and Chewbacca that he wasn't even asked any questions. I know that Vader is scary, but would he want to waste time by just toying with Han and not even questioning him?
Answer: Vader is not interested in extracting information from Han Solo, nor is he wasting time; he is using Han as bait to lure Luke Skywalker into his trap. Vader knows that Luke will sense Han's agony through the Force and will try to rescue Han and the others.
7th Jan 2008
General questions
I am looking for a film I saw about 20 years ago. I do not know the name of this film or any of the actors' names. There is a blond haired woman and a dark haired woman in this fim. The blond haired one seems to be a nice person who tries to reason all the time with the dark haired one who is not so nice. I remember the last scene where their house goes up in fire. The dark haired woman is trapped in it. The blond gets outside and with people around her looks up at the burning house. I think this film was made in the 60's. It is not "Rebecca."
23rd Jan 2008
General questions
In American movies, I sometimes notice little flag shaped things on people's letterboxes, that can be moved up and down. In Australia, where I live, I've never noticed these, nor have I noticed them in countries I've visited (I haven't visited America). What is the purpose of these flag shaped things, and are they solely American?
Chosen answer: It's actually a very practical device, and they are mostly used in rural areas that have roadside letterboxes. The homeowner raises it when there is outgoing mail to be picked up. The postal carrier can put the flag in the "up" position when there's a delivery.
I've never heard of any mailman doing that. The signal flag is only for outgoing mail.
I think the question is about the "little flag" (usually yellow), not the standard red flag that the owner raises when s/he puts outgoing mail in the box and doesn't want the postal carrier to bypass the mailbox if there is no mail to be delivered to that address that day. Regarding the small yellow flag that is near the bottom of the door (whereas the red flag extends above the box to be more visible), the yellow flag pops up when the mail box's door is opened. The carrier doesn't have to "put the flag up" to indicate a delivery - it is automatic - again, the flag goes up when the door goes down (is opened). The yellow part usually faces toward the house so that the homeowner (or renter) can see from the window if any mail has been delivered. With mailboxes that do not have the little flag, people have to walk to the mailbox to see if there is any mail. The mailboxes with the little flags can be bought on-line but are becoming obsolete with "informed delivery" emails.
Answer: Outgoing mail to be picked up? The US doesn't have post boxes? How strange.
The US does have post boxes, but if someone decides to install a full service mailbox, it's more convenient. Generally using the post box can be a bit faster since the mail carrier who picks up the mail might not return in time for the mail to be processed that day.
11th Jan 2008
General questions
This is a western type movie from the 70s: a group of guys take apart a boat and drag it across deserts and mountains to get to a river or lake. When they do get there, they find that there is no water.
Answer: This sounds like the 1982 film, "Fitzcarraldo," directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski.
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Answer: Young girls starve themselves for a variety of reasons. Many are insecure and have unrealistic expectations of how their bodies should look and stop eating to lose as much weight as possible. For others it a combination of trying to be thin, having something in their lives that they alone can control, an an act of rebellion, and so on. This often develops into a real disease called anorexia that needs medical treatment.
raywest ★
Did you watch the movie before you answered? This is not really an answer for this character's situation.