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: Does anyone know how to build these type of ships, using traditional techniques? And any recommended books to read (i.e. rigging, boat building, etc.)?

Answer: Go to http://www.barkendeavour.com.au/endfox/page1.html and read how a full sized replica of Capt. Cook's ship was built from the original plans in Australia (and see this ship's connection with the movie). There are many such ships sailing the world's oceans. I spent 6 fantastic weeks in (crew sail "in" not "on") HM Barque Endeavour. We left Halifax, Nova Scotia in November, and sailed south to Barbados. So, yes, those people know how to build, and maintain a wooden ship that meets historic museum standards. They even do a certain rope whipping "wrong" because that's the way it was done on the original ship. I was reading the log of one crewmember while lying in his bunk. He described a hand hold he had affixed to the beam above his bunk to help in getting out of the bunk. I reached up, and there it was! Now THAT's attention to detail! Also check out Mystic Seaport to get you started.

Question: Is the healing technique that Mr. Miyagi uses where he rubs his hands together real, or just something made up for the movie?

Krista

Chosen answer: That's debatable. Some Chinese people believe that they can heal injuries with the power of their hands, but it has yet to be proved by science. They added it into the movie to make Mr Miyagi seem powerful and mysterious.

Answer: The rubbing of the hands is to get Miyagi's chi flowing - the Eastern cultures believe this to be inner energy of the spirit. A Western perspective would be to say Miyagi did this to warm his hands. The heat generated would help massage Daniel's injury (think of a hot stone massage). He then focuses on the pressure points and eases the knots in Daniel's body (or in the leg injury scene, his pain). He didn't 'heal' Daniel; he simply numbed the pain, which is why Daniel was still limping.

Question: How much of a difference is there between the David Lynch version of this film and the Allen Smithee one?

Answer: A lot. The Allen Smithee version is nearly twice as long, the intro scene is completely different, narrated by a man and containing stills of artist renditions of events. The version contains many new scenes, additional dialog and extensions of existing scenes and some minor plot changes. The most famous scene only found in the Allen Smithee version is one of the Fremen making the water of life.

Question: Why aren't Nyssa and the other vampire fried by the big UV grenade? Sure, they dove underwater, but light doesn't diffuse THAT much underwater. I'm using the logic from an entry's correction that the UV light bounced around the corners is still enough to kill reapers, so it ought to kill them too.

Answer: In Blade I we saw that with sunscreen and the avoidance of direct exposure Deacon Frost and his lackeys could go out by day. The reapers are probably two or three times more sensitive than normal vampires so the exposure was probably not long or direct enough to kill the regular vampires.

Question: How could Dracula's werewolf antidote work on regular werewolves? I thought it could only work the first night they became a werewolf, and it had to be before the twelfth chime of midnight? Or did I miss something?

Answer: There is a lot of confusion about Dracula's control of werewolves and the antidote. After the twelfth stroke of midnight, a werewolf is under the complete control of Dracula. This is why Velkan couldn't kill Dracula: He knew a werewolf could kill him, even tried telling this to his sister, but couldn't consciously kill Dracula. Dracula keeps the antidote as a safety measure: If any werewolf summons enough will to get out of his control, he can make them human again.

Question: Was there a deleted scene on what happened to Nick? He seems to disappear and reappear out of nowhere.

Answer: No, there wasn't. I thought so too, but, no. In the original script I read there was, but they took it out for time reasons and never filmed it. Therefore, if it was never filmed, then it is not possible to be a deleted scene.

Question: During the opening credits, a song by Johnny Cash is played called, 'When the Man Comes to Town', or something like that. Is it the original song (i.e. not changed at all for the purposes of the film)? Also, can anyone tell me what Bible passage is recited at the end of it? Thanks.

Answer: The song is called "The Man Comes Around" and it is the original song that Johnny Cash sang - there is no changes to the song for the movie. The Bible passage is from Revelations when the passage speaks of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Show generally

Question: I was told that all songs in the Monty Python series/movies were written and composed by either Eric Idle or Neil MacInnes. Is this true? If not, who else wrote or co-wrote songs?

Answer: "The Lumberjack Song" and "Spam" were written by Terry Jones and Michael Palin. "If I Were Not in the C.I.D." was written primarily by John Cleese. Other than those, and "Jerusalem," all songs for visual media were written by Eric Idle and Neil Innes (not MacInnes). Mind you, they all wrote more songs that appear on the albums.

Answer: He did in the film, but for the soundtrack she recorded the song with Jesse McCartney. In an interview he admitted to being a little nervous about the singing.

Show generally

Question: When Bud's date says something stupid, Kelly says, "What did we send to her country? A head of lettuce and some sand?" What in the world did she mean by that?

Answer: Bud's date is a foreign exchange student and Kelly was wondering what was sent to the country Monique was from in exchange for Monique being sent to America.

Question: After "Gee, Officer Krupke," they're all going into Doc's candy store, and Snowboy is fiddling with something - what is it?

Answer: A small radio.

Question: What does Tom Cruise's character say to the owner of the jazz place after he shoots him in the head ?

Answer: It's been a while since I saw the movie, but he said something along the lines of: "[Miles Davis] dropped out of Julliard after six months and found a bar on 57th street, where he met Charlie Parker, who mentored him for three years."

Answer: Dropped out of Julliard after less than a year and tracked down Charlie Parker on 52nd St, who mentored him for the next three years.

Question: When Miranda is looking at the picture of her and her husband, why does a drop of blood fall onto the picture?

Answer: The blood is not from Miranda; the drop of blood is a sign from the "dead girl" to tell Miranda that she should go to the place in the pic. Miranda goes the next day and that's how she finds her husband was a sadist.

Question: On the soundtrack the Argentinian can be heard on the "Because We Can" song. What is he singing? I can't make it out.

Answer: It's Toulouse: "I only speak the truth, I only speak the truth".

Answer: The Argentinian sings "Well, you can bump and grind" - lyrics from the T-Rex song "Children of the Revolution"

Question: What's the name of the song playing when Shaggy puts his head in the record player?

Answer: The song that's playing is "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-lot.

Question: When Paul knocks on Holly's door and she isn't wearing anything, she says to him "would you turn around? Oh, never mind, it's such a silly line anyway - I'll turn around instead." What joke is she referring to?

Answer: Holly is referring to the fact that people often ask others in the room "Will you turn around?" when they are dressing or in the nude, so the person cannot see them naked. She is simply stating she thinks it is odd that the second person is always asked to turn around, when the person herself could turn around.

Question: What is that song by 311 called? I cant find the soundtrack anywhere. And I know it's only on the soundtrack so it's not on any of their CD's.

Answer: According to imdb.com the song is 'Anytime'.

Answer: One that I saw was a reference to Chris Redfield in the newspaper clippings in Jill's apartment. There was also a name on the K-9 Unit in front of the school, but I couldn't see the name clearly.

Question: In the movie, we see several women and children huddled together in a back room away from the fighting, (Almeron's wife and daughter among them). Did Santa Anna's troops kill them as well or were they let go? There was also no mention if Travis' slave (the one who was memorizing something to say in Spanish)was killed as well. While I realize that these characters were minor, one gets the impression that at the end, only Crockett was alive the next morning.

Answer: Historically the women and I believe an infant were freed by Santa Anna, who was a big believer in chivalry, etc... A TV version of the Alamo had the women wanting to fight as well and die but a Mexican officer stops them with the line "Do you only want Santa Anna's version of your husbands' deaths to be known?" One in particular becomes a valuable first person source. Historically the black servant/slave is also spared by the Mexicans. They figure he is a slave and not a willing combatant so they let him go.

Question: Before Admiral Greer shows up to tell Jack about Sean Miller's escape, where were the Ryans planning to go?

Answer: The movie never clearly says. It was some event that required tickets, as the mom runs back into the house to get them. And it was something Sally really wanted to go to, but it is never clear what the event was.

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