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: I don't remember a choir in the book. Was it added or is it actually in the book somewhere? If it was in the book, where was it?

Answer: No choir in the book. It was added for the film.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: Gabriel is the true name of the character described elsewhere as the Left Hand of God, responsible for Dracula's original death. Dracula uses this to try to remind Van Helsing of their history together. The implication is that Van Helsing is actually the archangel Gabriel, credited with (among other things) announcing the pending birth of Christ to Mary his mother, Joseph his father, and Elizabeth mother of John the Baptist.

Phoenix

Question: In the flashback scene in the bar, Striker throws his hat, but it comes back to him like a boomerang. He then throws his jacket, and it also comes back to him like a boomerang, but this time you can see the hand that throws it at him. Is the hand a crew member's, or it is intended to be somebody throwing it back at him?

Jackie Menechino

Chosen answer: Too hard to say - potentially both. I'm guessing the hand wasn't meant to be seen, but at the same time there's no reason why someone couldn't have just hurled hat back at him, so seeing the hand isn't really a mistake.

Question: When the jeeps are outside the t-rex paddock there is a sign on the concrete wall with the word NO written on it, the rest of the sign is too small to read. What does it say?

Answer: On the DVD it says, "Feeding, Flash Photography, Yelling", from top to bottom.

Pilot - S1-E1

Question: When they're flying on the plane, Scully starts breathing deeply and looks like she's afraid of flying. Has this ever been explained later? In all the later episodes, they never say she was afraid of flying.

Answer: She's afraid in this scene because the plane has encountered turbulace and is diving down. No fear of flying has ever been mentioned.

Question: Three guys made up the offensive line that was affectionately nicknamed the "Coneheads" after the classic Saturday Night Live skits from the late 70s. What specifically caused them to earn this nickname? What's the connection between those three guys and the Coneheads from Saturday Night Live? The assistant coach starts to give an explanation, but doesn't elaborate enough to offer a clear answer.

Matty Blast

Chosen answer: The "Coneheads" (John Harrington, Mark Pavelich and Buzz Schneider) all were from the same area in Minnesota. Naturally, they gravitated together and would often be found working on plays around orange pylon cones at the end of the rink - hence the "Coneheads" nickname.

Question: What's the name of the "Van Helsing theme"? I'm talking about the song that plays three or four times during the movie in scenes heavily featuring Van Helsing (the beginning scene in France or the very end, for example). It's the one that has something similar to a Spanish guitar very noticeably playing from time to time.

Answer: There are actually two tracks on the soundtrack you can choose from. "Journey to Transylvania" and "Transylvanian Horses" both feature the Spanish Guitar and are featured in the movie. Both songs are by Alan Silvestri. Just note that "Transylvanian Horses" is longer than "Journey To Transylvania" seeing as though the "Journey" track is only approx 1.5 min long.

Question: Where are Baboo, Squat and Finster?

Answer: They weren't even considered to appear in the movie considering there were so many other changes (different suits, new Command Centre etc). Also the movie has been widely accepted as out of continuity with the TV show, so their disappearance doesn't really mean much.

Answer: In the TV show, they are 13-14 years old. Assuming this is after the TV show, and we never see Lizzie, Gordo or Miranda celebrating their 14th birthdays (we see Kate celebrating her '14th' birthday and Gordo celebrating his Bar Mitzfah a year late), Lizzie and Miranda are 13-14, Gordo is 14 and Kate is 15 (it is mentioned in an earlier episode that she was held back a year in Kindergarten.) This is only an assumption, due to the TV show.

Answer: You can actually download the Pilot Episode in which Lori Rom was in it. It's available @ /server irc.irchighway.net on channels #tv-central, #charmed-episodes, #thesoureofcharmed (requires registered nick).

Show generally

Question: During the opening sequence, there are side shots of the incoming choppers that make the choppers appear to be flying backwards. When you see the choppers from the ground, they are flying forwards. Was this intentional?

Answer: The first shot, that looks like the helicopter are moving backwards is a shot within a helicopter. The helicopter that is filming is moving faster than the others making it appear that the others are going in reverse.

Question: Is the clan language American sign language, some other sign language or made up?

Answer: Completely made up. It was too difficult to teach all the actors ASL.

Question: I understand that certain changes need to be made when adapting a book to the screen, but can anyone tell me the reason why they so radically changed an ending which would have worked fine as it was in the book?

Answer: The only reason I (and anyone I asked) could find was that, as usual, they discarded the ending though emotionally intense for the sake of another climax full of physical violence after the belief that this is the type of endings people prefer in the movies. Really sad indeed.

Question: On the DVD where are the hidden easter eggs, e.g. the gag reel?

Answer: Go to Special Features, and choose the first feature (but don't select it). Then, click left on your remote, and a small picture of a Mini Cooper should appear above the list. Select that, and you'll get to the gag reel.

Question: I don't really understand why Jodie Foster's character didn't tell the police something was wrong when they came to the door. I know she was worried for her daughter but the robbers couldn't overhear and she could have asked the police to come back later, giving her a chance to smash the cameras. Also, considering that she emphatically denied there was anything wrong, why did the police return later with all the guns etc?

Answer: But if Jodie Foster was so keen to placate the burglars and protect her daughter's life then why did she smash the cameras after the police left? It doesn't make sense.

She smashed the cameras, so the thieves in the Panic Room couldn't see what she was doing. That's why the thieves had said, "Why didn't we do that?"

Answer: The cop told Jodie "if you can give me some kind of signal." Jodie runs her fingers through her hair, that's the signal.

Answer: One doesn't ask the cops to come back later, especially when one's daughter's life is a stake. Also, the cops came back because they just didn't believe her and felt that something was up (call it intuition).

Not only that, Jodie Foster said that "they were good", why would she say that they are good if not that they were right?

Question: During the buffalo hunt, Smiles A Lot's horse falls over, causing him to fall off. But I can never figure out why the horse falls to begin with. He's standing still, and there are no buffalo nearby to spook him. Even if he were spooked by something unseen, how would that cause him to fall over, rather than just bolt?

Krista

Chosen answer: The buffalo that later charges Smiles A Lot comes up and butts into the side of his horse, knocking it over. It can't clearly be seen because of the way the shots change, but that's what happens.

Question: What is Peter's (Jeremy's) real eye color? In the movie it sometimes is green and sometimes blue.

Emily

Chosen answer: It's blue. Source: www.jeremysumpter.com.

Question: What is the fast-paced music towards the end of the (final) trailer?

Answer: Gabriel Yared was originally doing the score for Troy, however Wolfgang Peterson believed that Yared's score was too "old fashioned" and therefore employed James Horner to redo the score. It's possible the music from the trailer was that written by Yared.

Question: What is the point of including a weakness like the crotch vulnerable spot on your robot? Ivan opened himself up for that one.

Answer: There's never a "point" to including a weakspot, by definition they are a flaw in the design that is either unforeseen or unavoidable. Maybe they could not find a way round it when building the robot, or any solutions simply created other weakspots.

Question: When the Jamaican bobsled team returned to the next Olympics, did they have the same members as before?

Matty Blast

Chosen answer: Yes.

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