Question: I am watching "The Naked Gun" on the IFC Network, and during one of the commercials they asked a trivia question about the movie that I never saw answered. The question was, "Which famous comedian contributed a scene or gag for the movie", and the choices were Mel Brooks, Steve Martin, and one other name that I do not remember. Does anyone know the answer to this question? I can not find any information about it anywhere. Thank you.
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Question: When Biff and his gang are first chasing Marty on the skateboard in 1955, Marty escapes by grabbing the tailgate of a passing pickup truck which tows him around the corner. The gang jumps into Biff's convertible to continue the pursuit, and Biff's convertible actually has a rear-end collision with the pickup truck, barely missing Marty. How is it that the truck driver doesn't even react to all this insane activity and the rear-end collision? Rather than stopping and demanding an explanation, the truck driver continues away from the scene without even slowing down.
Chosen answer: It's likely any answer would be speculation at best, so it's hard to say. We can start with the fact that Biff barely taps the guy's bumper. He's seen stopping when Marty moves out of the way, although not enough, but I would not call it a "collision." Second, the style of the truck's metal bumper would have absorbed the impact to the point the driver didn't feel anything. In terms of if he actually felt an impact, in an era where you can't just call 9-1-1 on your cell phone to get police help, the man probably thought it prudent not to confront a car full of crazy teenage boys who just wildly rammed him for no reason. And if he did pull over, Biff had already turned the corner and so the man in the truck would have been off camera, so perhaps he does get out and inspect the damage and even sees Biff hit the manure truck, after which we don't know what happened.
Question: Is there some reason why Samantha wears the same exact "Heart Pendant Necklace" in every single episode? It seems odd that she only has one necklace all the time.
Answer: The original diamond and white gold heart necklace was given to Elizabeth Montgomery by her then real-life husband, William Asher, who also directed the show. She wore it in nearly every early episode. When the necklace was lost or stolen about mid-way through the series, Montgomery had two replicas made from rhinestones. She wore either one of those for the rest of the show's run.
Question: Why does Matt Damon do a weird stare at the gold roof when viewing his apartment for the first time? Did I miss something?
Giving Back - S1-E5
Question: In this episode, the guy is punished by SAMCRO for not having his biker ink covered up. Also, Clay had to have his covered in (I think) season 5 or 6 when he left. Why was Opie allowed to keep his though? He had effectively left yet in this episode he is topless and all his ink is showing. Why did he not need his covered when he left the gang?
Question: When Han, Finn and Chewy are rounded up by the Storm Troopers after the First Order go to Maz Kanata's castle, one Storm Trooper takes Luke/Anakin's lightsaber from Finn. How do Finn and Rey have it back when he is in the forest battling Kylo Ren?
Chosen answer: Right after the X-Wings come blasting in, there is a sequence where the heroes pick up their weapons. You can see Finn grab it as they escape.
Question: If Cecil, Gus and Reginald knew that the tablet brought the exhibits to life, and could extend their own, then why didn't they steal it from the moment it was brought to the museum in 1952? Why wait after so many years?
Answer: The tablet did not extend life (the guys grew old there, remember), but gave more energy to those affected. As for stealing it earlier, that would not have been possible as they would have been the prime suspects. The best way to do the crime was to pin the rap on somebody new, like Larry, after they had retired.
That's a seriously long waiting game.
Question: After killing Barbossa in the cave, why would Jack surrender (i.e. go with Will and Elizabeth) knowing that he was going to be hanged anyway? Wasn't there any escape for him?
Chosen answer: At that point he already had hope that his crew and others would rescue him and he would be able to escape from custody. Which he did.
Question: Why does Dobby only attempt to save Harry from the dangers that will happen at Hogwarts this year? If he knows that Lucius Malfoy is planning something, why not go to Dumbledore and try to save everyone at the school?
Answer: Dobby overheard a plot that involved Harry. He had heard of Harry and his "greatness" and decided to help him for that. Going to Dumbledore would be for totally different reasons and a more direct "betrayal" of his family. Its not unlikely Dobby thought any other wizard like Dumbledore would tell the Malfoy's about his "betrayal", but not Harry. He also didn't know the entire school was in danger.
Question: Are Palpatine and Dooku's real first names known? They're not Dantius and Jard - those are "fanon" names made up by fanfiction writers. See http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dantius_Palpatine and http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jard_Dooku.
Answer: Dooku's first name is currently unknown, however from the book Darth Plagueis we know that Palpatine's first name is Sheev.
Question: Why exactly did R.K. Maroon want to sell his studio? A scene in the movie shows a news reel of him shaking hands with a Cloverleaf corporate man. A full explanation would be appreciated.
Answer: Maroon was simply greedy and Cloverleaf offered him a lot of money to sell, provided Acme sold his part too. Spoiler alert: Maroon was only trying to frame Acme (with the Jessica Rabbit patty-cake pictures), not kill him. However, Judge Doom turned out to be the owner of Cloverleaf and by buying out Maroon and Acme, he could get rid of Toontown (he hated toons). So Doom was willing to pay Maroon a lot of money (and when that didn't work, turned to murder).
Question: Why is this film called Brazil?
Chosen answer: Because of the reoccurring use of the song "Aquarela do Brasil" by Ary Barroso. The song's common English title is "Brazil". And at the end, when Sam is sitting in the chair, he starts to sing "Brazil".
It's Not Easy Being Green - S5-E16
Question: How could Bobby and the rest of Mr. McKay's class have showed up at Strickland Propane without Hank knowing? Surely the students would not have been allowed to go on a field trip without a parent's permission. If Peggy had signed a form at some point, she mostly likely would have mentioned to Hank that Bobby would be at his workplace.
Answer: Peggy is a substitute teacher. She may have been teaching at the school the day the permission slips were sent out and Bobby could have just walked to her classroom, had her sign it, and taken it back to his teacher and both just forgot to tell Hank when they got home. ("There are ways" is my point).
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.
Question: The trap in which Robert Neville got caught could not have possibly be set by some over aggressive mutants. Installing such a trap would have required not only human abilities (which Robert Neville said they completely lack) but also a lot of patience, advanced planning and the use of tools. The level of aggressiveness shown by the mutants excludes any possibility that they could be patient enough to set such a trap. For me there was no doubt in my mind that the trap was either set by: 1. Robert Neville himself, and then he forgot due to a deteriorating mental state 2. Another survivor from New York who wanted to catch animals or mutants for whatever reason. How likely does it sound that the trap was set by another survivor?
Chosen answer: The point the movie makes (and is backed up more in the alternate ending) is that Neville was wrong about mutants. They DO have the ability to plan and use tools and other higher thought process abilities. So they did set the trap for Neville. Neville thought they were monsters, when it was he who the monster. He just did not realise his presumptions about them were wrong until the end.
Answer: All possible yes...but again as Neville surmises in Matheson's novel the infected ones are mutating too.
Question: Why would Dr. Lanning's perfectly good house need to be demolished right after he "committed suicide?"
Chosen answer: It didn't. Destroying the house (and any potential evidence) was part of the cover up.
Question: Since I have never been in the military this is confusing. Does it make any sense that The President, a former fighter pilot, as well as General Grey would not know about Area 51? I find it hard to believe that Captain Steven Hiller would know about Area 51 but the 2 most powerful men in the U.S. would not.
Chosen answer: Hiller didn't know what Area 51 was, he just knew there was a base nearby, because he flew over it in battle. Recall his exchange with Russell Casse in the desert when they were picking him & the alien up; Casse said there's no base on the map, Hiller said it's there, he just flew over it. The base isn't named at that point by either Casse or Hiller.
Question: In the scene where the Surprise is becalmed, at the very start as the camera zooms out it shows that the ship is flying a line of signal flags. What is the message that they are trying to send? I tried looking it up, but I didn't have any luck.
Answer: The signals that were contemporary to the setting of the film were Sir Admiral Home Popham's "Telegraphic Signals or Marine Vocabulary." However, it appears that there is no clear signal actually being sent. For reference see Nelson's signal of "England expects that every man will do his duty" during the Battle of Trafalgar. By Pope's coding, one is supposed to signal in groups of hoisted flags, beginning with a red/white diagonal signaling the start of a message, and a blue/yellow diagonal signaling the end. Individual flags stand for numerals and the groups of numerals match phrases or letters within Pope's codings. For example a lone "3" signal represents the letter "C" while a set of signals sending "416" stand for variations of "Instruct-ed-ing-ion-s." The best I can make from the film (the yellow colors of the flags appear to be washed out due to post-processing), is that they begin a signal then send "392" ended with a "substitute" flag. Possibly standing for "impossible-ility" while the section on the Main seems to indicate "602" or "part-ed-ing-ition" without a "Finished" flag. For reference here is a link to a scanned original copy of the 1803 Edition of the Codes: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433008120291;view=1up;seq=1 And a link to a PDF that has the 1806 version with drawings of the flags: http://3decks.pbworks.com/f/Admiral%2520Home%2520Popham%2520Telegraph%2520signal%2520book%2520Final%2520edition.pdf.
Question: Why does Maggie's mother and sister call her Miriam?
Answer: Because Maggie's name was Mary Margaret Fitzgerald, Maggie for short. Her family was calling her "Mary M", with a thick Missouri accent.
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Chosen answer: Mel Brooks. When Frank is undercover as the ump, one of the batters hits Frank in the face with the bat. This was a suggestion Brooks had made.
Bishop73