Question: Was Dudley Smith written as an Irishman, or was the accent something James Cromwell just did for kicks?
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: When they pass in front of the library, there are only two books "Fiction" and "Non-fiction". I remember seeing something similar in a science-fiction film when I was a kid. A man says something like "All the knowledge of the Martians is contained in this disc". Is it a reference to this film, and if so, what is its name?
Chosen answer: I don't know that it is a reference, but it sounds like you are thinking of The Martian Chronicles.
Question: If you go to "Index" on Disc one of the DVD, it lists that on Disc Two there is a feature called "Vowellet : An Essay by Sarah Vowell." However I have searched and searched Disc Two, and I can't find it. Can someone tell me how to find it?
Chosen answer: It is in the 'behind the scenes' chapter.
Question: Sid Hudgens uses the phrase "Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush." What does "q.t." stand for?
Chosen answer: "QT" is slang which literally means "quiet" and it is also used as a police radio term which means "secrecy required regarding location."
Question: According to the IMDb trivia page, William Petersen reprised his role of Will Graham from "Manhunter" in one episode. Which episode was this?
Chosen answer: In the episode "Abra Cadaver" Tom Noonan, who played The Tooth Fairy in 'Manhunter', appeared as the bad guy. Since Grissom was the main investigator, many fans saw a similarity.
Question: When the guards appear at Shrek's door, they are all lined up and blowing their trumpets. When they are finished, one of them on the end starts playing a tune. The leader goes to him, slaps him and says, "Quiet, Reggie." Does anyone know what this refers to?
Chosen answer: The music he's playing is the main them from the seventies television serie "Hawaii Five-0". The name is just a random one.
Answer: The name "Reggie" as well as the joke comes from a Fred Astaire film "Damsel in Distress" in which a character named Reggie breaks out into jazz during fanfares repeatedly in the film.
Question: I was startled by the authentic-appearing emotion on Hugo Weaving's face at the coronation scene when he told Arwen to "Go to him." Is he that good an actor, was there a real emotion running through the scene, or was he simply exhausted by the whole thing?
Chosen answer: According to commentary, they reshot this part of the scene and these particular shots were done in pickups, long after the shoot in New Zealand ended, so exhaustion had nothing to do with it. Hugo Weaving is simply a good actor, receiving direction from a good director.
Question: Does anyone know what that thing is that Dr. Scott examines intently while he's sitting in the Zen room?
Chosen answer: It's a joint that is clipped in a "roach clip."
Question: Why does Creasy almost kill himself in the beginning of the movie? How does Creasy die at the end of the movie?
Answer: Creasy was a contract assassin for the CIA. His downfall was his drinking because it affected his reaction time and so forth. He had a lot of bad memories he was trying to live with. He considered this bodyguard assignment to be a blow off assignment. This and his bad memories combined with his drinking problem, made him severely depressed. This is why he considered killing himself. At the end of the movie, you see Creasy being taken away in a car. His gunshot wound from the "Voice's" brother, along with his prior gunshot wounds that were never properly treated, had finally gotten the best of him. He was bleeding the whole last half of the movie because he never fully recovered from the gunshot wounds. So, to answer the question of why he died, he bled to death.
Answer: He wanted to kill himself because of his past. Hence- "will God ever forgive us for what we have done?" His friend answered "no"
Question: What was the significance of Frank wearing the rabbit suit? Was it because the face was supposed to stick in Donnie's mind so he'd remember what he had to do? I can't think of any logical reason why he'd have to wear the suit to accomplish his mission.
Answer: According to the DVD special features, people who die in the alternate universe (the Manipulated Dead) have more power and self-awareness than those who live throughout. The supernatural force that appoints Donnie to end the alternate universe adopts Frank's face because a) he wants a form that Donnie can interact with and b) as a Manipulated Dead Frank has more understanding of what is going on and maybe wants to help. The costume is necessary because it's an essential part of Frank's character as a dead person - it's what he was wearing when he died - and also because it's so alien Donnie will understand that he's dealing with things beyond normal ken.
Question: My gripe is why did the doctor cut off his foot to get to the phone/gun? He was of mind enough to use his shirt to tie around his leg - why not use his shirt to retrieve the phone/gun. Also can't mobile phones set to receive only still make calls to directory enquiries and emergency services?
Answer: It is doubtful there can be a precise correct answer to this, unless you happen to be the screenwriter. However, it can be presumed that the doctor resorted to the skills he had down cold, almost automatic, as opposed to attempting any further creative problem-solving because he was at his wits' end, in a very traumatic situation. He knows how to tourniquet and amputate.
Answer: Dr Gordon had been mentally abused for close to 8 hours by this point. As the situation got more grave he resorts to more drastic (and quicker) methods to try and win his game to save his family. We are shown throughout later films that FBI agent Hoffman (who doesn't appear on screen until Saw 3) is working with Jigsaw at this point already, so has access to high end tech. Enough to manipulate a phone's abilities.
Answer: So he could escape.
The question wasn't why he cut off his foot. It was why he didn't use his shirt to retrieve the gun.
Question: What exactly does the title of this film mean? Is there even an answer to that?
Chosen answer: It is a reference to a class of fast-paced, sensationalistic, and frequently exploitive stories published in cheap magazines from the 1920's through the 1950's. They were called 'pulp' because of the cheap quality of the paper they were printed on, as opposed to the 'slicks' which were more like full-color magazines of today.
Question: In the intro to the show, just before Homer's car arrives at the garage, there is a crash pan across several screens-worth of characters. Are these characters significant in any way or are they just random people?
Chosen answer: Actually it looks like many are large characters but I guess it's a quick way to show as many of the characters as possible. If you freeze frame the shots you can see the characters Milhouse, Nelson, Jimbo, Patty and Selma, Grampa Simpson, Dr Hibbert, Flanders and his wife and many more.
Question: They talk about how Nightcrawler may accidentally teleport himself into a wall. What would have happened if he did?
Answer: If he appears within the wall, he would die. The structure of a wall is solid so his body including his organs and so on would only appear (or materialise) within cracks and gaps within the wall. Something could not "instantly form" within a solid area.
Question: Why did Pussy Galore join the good side? Was she a American undercover agent?
Answer: If I understand correctly Bond and Ms. Galore had a romantic encounter and during that Bond explained the full intent of Goldfinger (killing all the innocent people at Ft. Knox)to her. Apparently willing to go along with the theft of the gold at Ft. Knox, Ms. Galore was unwilling to go along with mass murder.
Question: My son and I believe that, in Harry's photo album and the magic Mirror, Lily and James Potter are played by J.K. Rowling and a friend of hers named "Sean" who is said to be the inspiration for Ron Weasley's character. Can anyone confirm/deny?
Answer: According to J.K. Rowling on her official site (www.jkrowling.com), the filmmakers asked her to play Lily, but she felt she "would have messed it up somehow". IMDb credits Geraldine Somerville as Lily and Adrian Rawlins as James.
Question: I'm just curious, it is stated in "Cold Lazarus" that Oniell's son's name is Charlie, did he name his son after his friend Major Charles Kawalsky?
Answer: No. In the first or second episode of the series Kawalsky says he worked with Jack all those years and never even knew he had a son.
Question: Since Matt Murdock is blind, how did he get his Daredevil costume?
Answer: More than likely, the priest has been helping him.
Why would the priest help Matt? When Matt talks to the priest, the priest seems a bit angry at him for what he does.
Question: Is it (or was it, as the case may be) really a common practice to put keys in the visor? (And why?)
Answer: It's not really "common" per se, but some surveys indicate that up to one in seventeen people in the US routinely leaves their keys in the car overnight. If you do so, it's only logical to put them in a place where they can't be easily seen yet you will be able to find them. It's just luck that it happens to work out for Arnold in this movie.
Question: After Stan finished building the Hydra, he said: 'it's time to disguise you as internal destruction'. Now, I'm not a hacker or a great programmer, so can anybody please explain to me what he meant?
Answer: He wants to dupe everyone who investigates the problem into thinking it was an internal error, rather than a virus. Doing so would lead them away from Stan, and he would get away with the attack.
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.
Chosen answer: Yes, Dudley Smith was Irish.
Mark English