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: Is there a reason why Lucas chose the number 66 to be the "code" for the clones to kill the Jedi? According to an article on msn.com, it is something Biblical; however, as the article was nonspecific, I am still not sure if it is an actual textual reference, or if it's just referring to the fact that the Bible contains 66 books.

Answer: Here is a site that contains several of the 66 references in and about the Bible: http://www.greaterthings.com/Word-Number/66.htm. There's no confirmed reason for George Lucas' decision.

Bruce Minnick

Question: When Shrek, Donkey and Puss find the "Happily Ever After" potion on the glass-enclosed shelf in the Fairy Godmother's factory, Puss uses one of his claws to cut the glass and get the bottle out. But I've heard that the only substance that can cut glass is a diamond. Were Puss' claws made of diamond? Or was this just for dramatic effect, since it's a fairy tale?

Answer: It was just a dramatic effect, since it was a fairy tale.

Disney-Freak

Question: This question applies to all three Harry Potter movies. Why is no one allowed to say Voldemorts name?

Answer: There's no actual law preventing it, it's largely traditional, left over from when Voldemort was previously active. He was considered so terrifying that people were frightened simply by the power of his name, so it became the norm to use an alternate method of referring to him if it was necessary to do so. Despite his apparent fall, the tendency remains. Later on, when Voldemort rises to power once again and gets hold of the ministry, a taboo is placed upon his name. Meaning that those who speak the dark lords name will immediately be attacked by death eaters. Some speculate the taboo was placed so as to find Harry more easily, as after Dumbledores death he was the only one brave enough to speak the name.

Tailkinker

Question: Why didn't Luke just stay in the cave and wait until the next morning to contact the Rebel base? Isn't the cave just as adequate a shelter as what Han dug for him?

Matty Blast

Chosen answer: There's still a very large and annoyed Wampa in there, and there could easily be others in the depths of the cave. Running out into the cold may not be the most sensible move in the world, but it's reasonably understandable.

Tailkinker

Question: After Jo's truck is destroyed and they have to use Bill's truck to load two of the Dorothys in, what do they do with the top that was over the bed of Bill's truck?

Tiffany

Chosen answer: I imagine they just left it at the house where they loaded the Dorothys. You only need a couple of wrenches to remove a camper top.

Grumpy Scot

They were not at a house.

Answer: It was most likely placed inside one of the other vehicles, the most likely being Dusty's "Barn Burner," which would've had ample space for it.

Chosen answer: Homer is imitating a pig's squeal, implying that the kid in the book is too fat for his liking (he can talk!).

Sierra1

Answer: Alternatively, the kid in question could just look like a pig in general.

Question: Will there be a sequel to Team America, because the ending seemed so open?

Answer: Trey Parker and Matt Stone said that there will never be a sequel and they will probably never do that kind of film again because it was too difficult.

Dr Wilson

Question: What is the song the woman sings during the trailer?

Answer: 'Caramel' by Suzanne Vega.

Jane Doe

Question: After Marie dies, why does Bourne burn the pictures of her as well as her possessions but keeps of picture of him and her?

Answer: It would be standard practice from his old career as an assassin - leave no evidence behind, don't carry anything with you that you don't have to, so he burns all the passports that were created for her and so on. It's only when he gets the photograph of the two of them together that he can't bring himself to burn it - after all, he loved her; she means too much to him to just discard it completely.

Tailkinker

Question: Could someone please tell me who was actually murdered? I understand that all the characters at the motel were personalities in the mind of Malcolm Rivers, and that the killer was Timmy, who was also one of Rivers' personalities. So if all the people at the motel were not real, why is Rivers about to be executed for murder, and how did the authorities have photos of the murdered people if there were no actual people murdered?

Answer: The actual, "real-life" killings happened before the events shown in the movie and are shown briefly in a flashback. The authorities knew that Malcolm had done it while believing to be one of his alternate personalities, but did not know which one, and had to be convinced that the killer personality was dead before changing his sentence to life imprisonment. Meanwhile, the killings we see in the motel during the movie, are Malcolm killing off his other personas, leaving in fact only - the killer.

Twotall

Answer: Since Timmy is the killer here, it would be correct to assume that he blew up the car and took Ginny away during the commotion and killed her in some way that isn't shown in film. Or else blowing up of the car becomes completely pointless and a classic like this won't show a scene that doesn't have a significance. So blowing up the car was actually a part of the plot to kill Ginny.

Question: At Minas Tirith when the Witch-King destroyed Gandalf's staff and was then distracted by the Rohan army. Why didn't he just quickly kill Gandalf before going off.

Answer: Even without his staff, Gandalf is not going to be a pushover - the Witch-King isn't going to be able to simply take Gandalf out by snapping his fingers. Better to simply inconvenience Gandalf by taking his staff out, then return to the battle, rather than taking on the risk of a serious one-on-one fight while the main battle below is still undecided, particularly as his opponents have just had some substantial reinforcements show up.

Tailkinker

Question: Why is the guy with the yellow glasses always wearing them?

Answer: The easy explanation: Because the doll was made with non-removable glasses. The advanced explanation: Probably because he thinks they look cool and he is very concerned with his cool-American-hero-image.

Twotall

Question: When Johnny clicks the gold pen twice in Pegasus' secretary's office, she falls down unconscious. I'm not sure why, can someone explain what the pen did to her, and why is she in a wheelchair afterwards?

OL1V3R666

Chosen answer: The pen is equiped with tiny tranquilizer darts. That's what hits the secretary. The tranquilizer seems to have either a very long effect or some side effects, as the secretary is partly immobilized thus the wheel chair.

Christoph Galuschka

Question: How did Dolarhyde pick the women that he would kill?

Answer: The two familes had their home movies sent to Chromalux for developing. Dolarhyde is the director of technical services, so he has access to every tape that Chromalux recieves. He discovered Mrs. Leeds and Mrs. Jacobi through their respective home movies.

Cubs Fan

Question: When Shaun asks Dave and Diane about tranport, Diane says she's only past her test. Shaun then looks at Dave, but I can't make out what Dave says, and my DVD deosn't have subtitles. Can someone please tell me what he says?

Answer: He says "I don't see the point of owning a car in London".

Tailkinker

Question: How is it that Princess Leia, in the hologram, knows who Obi-Wan is? And yet Luke doesn't. How could she possibly know who he is when, in Episode III, the only time she "sees" Obi-Wan is when she is an infant.

Answer: She's never met him, but has been told about him by her adoptive father, Bail Organa, who gave her the mission to go and collect Obi-Wan.

Tailkinker

Question: How did that person get turned into Nemesis in both the film and the game? I just want to know if it is accurate.

Answer: It is never explained how the Nemesis came about in the game. But like the other Bio-weapons, it was probably created in a lab by a scientist. The reason it was created by Umbrella was to kill all STARS members. Because the T-Virus is so highly contagious, if one catches it of course, you turn into a zombie. But, that's not the only thing you can change into. Hence the man in the first Resident Evil movie gets cut, catches the T-Virus and starts to transform into the Nemesis.

Sir William

Answer: Matt from Resident Evil 1 gets scratched by a liquor he then catches the liquor version of the virus. Then as the movie ends you hear the same to say I want him in the Nemesis program which transforms the liquor virus into the Nemesis character. Nemesis is actually made up of several of the bio weapons put together he's another form of the tyrant. Which all together is another character from part 1 he's the boss character from the game.

Question: Exactly how powerful is a Balrog? Could it defeat a Nazgul or a Witch-king?

Answer: It depends on whose Balrog you're talking about. The Balrog were never more than a few in number, since they were Maia, just as Gandalf and Sauron were. Although the movie Balrog (Durin's Bane) was huge and fearsome, Tolkien's were much more man-like, although exuding fire and darkness, spreading terror among Melkor's enemies. It is unlikely that a Nazgul, even their leader, the Witch-King of Angmar, could have defeated a Balrog, although Gandalf did.

scwilliam

Question: In the opening Omaha beach scene, we see soldiers being mowed down as soon as they leave the LCVP's. Was this really the case in 1944? Were the bunkers really that close to to the shoreline?

Answer: Yes, this was the case unfortunately. Many soldiers lost there lives before exiting the boats. Several Normandy survivors say that the scene was the best interpretation of what actually happened on that day.

Toolio

Question: Who was the guy that was always around shaking his head every time Happy did something stupid? He mentioned something about Grizzly Adams, having a beard?

Rollin Garcia Jr

Chosen answer: He's the legendary golfer Lee Trevino.

Toolio

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.