Best movie questions of 2002

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Bowling for Columbine picture

Question: What is the song that is playing in the background when the recording of the teacher phoning the authorities is playing? It continues throughout the filming of Columbine School.

Answer: The song sounds very much like an acoustic guitar version of "Beecher's Lament" by Jeff Gibbs, who is credited with composing all original music for the film, including this song. A beautiful, haunting piano dominated version of this song appears on his only CD "Reflections". The song can be sampled at Jeff Gibb's web page. Link provided http://www.jeffgibbs.com/music.shtml.

OneHappyHusky

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Insomnia picture

Question: Why does Dormer switch to a backup gun while chasing the killer in the fog? It is never explained.

aftucci

Answer: Plot device to make Ellie look like a super sleuth remembering Dormer even carries a backup. When Hap and Dugger were comparing guns Hap says he and Dormer both carry S&W .45s. This makes the 9mm casing Ellie found a complete mystery to everyone else. So why the switch? Dormer's primary might be empty, but this is the first time Dormer shoots and all the characters act like there are only two shots fired in the fog, so for it to be empty he would have to be terribly sloppy. If he's so bad he forgot to load his gun it's equally likely he left the safety on. Maybe Dormer is just so used to being a dirty cop he instinctively uses the backup whenever possible to create an alibi. Ultimately, there is no explanation for this in the film, and if blink you don't even see the switch and are very confused when the 9mm casing shows up in the first place, if Nightmute carries.40, and Dormer .45, then 9mm has no place at all.

In the Netflix version with subtitles, when Dormer fires his primary weapon, the subtitle says "gun clicks." Dormer briefly looks at his gun and then pulls his secondary weapon. Nolan may have intended this to be ambiguous so the viewer doesn't know whether it was an accident or intentional (Nolan would never leave a "mistake" in the final edit - in fact, in interviews, he said he watched the movie at least a hundred times while editing), but the subtitles seem to put this debate to rest.

Chosen answer: Because he ran out of bullets in his first gun.

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Ghost Ship picture

Question: Why was Epps's dead crew involved in taking the gold onto the new ship? Wouldn't their souls have gone to Heaven when the ship sank?

Answer: No, they succumbed to their sins so their souls are eternally damned.

Phixius

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Scooby-Doo picture

Question: Does anyone know the number plate of the Mystery Machine?

Answer: In the cartoons, it's AC-712. The film was probably faithful to this.

Tailkinker

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Stuart Little 2 picture

Question: Why did Stuart continue trusting the Canary when she lied to him and the whole family?

Answer: Probably because he could see that she was hurt at what she did and also because earlier in the movie, he said "When you're friends with Stuart Little, you're friends for life". Also if you wanna look at it another way, him helping her could be payback for her saving him from the sink. It's just a long term friendship they have.

Answer: Because she wanted to be safe from the evil Falcon.

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Answer: Harrison Ford does attempt a Russian accent in this film. It's a very slight, very bad attempt but he's definitely trying. Audiences come to expect accents in films such as these for a heightened sense of immersion. Hearing American accents from supposedly Russian characters can sometimes be jarring to an audience, even if the characters are speaking English. This of course isn't always the case and plenty of films have actors speaking in their natural accents while they are playing foreign characters. The director of this film chose to have his actors speak with Russian accents, with extremely poor results pretty much all around.

BaconIsMyBFF

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Irreversible picture

Question: What is the meaning of the flashing lights at the end of the movie (after the camera pans from Alex reading the book at the park)?

Dra9onBorn117

Chosen answer: The flashing lights are to create a sense of uneasiness again. Gaspar Noe uses low frequency sound to create nausea, headaches, and disorientation in the beginning and uses it again here to make the viewer feel sick after the mood changes dramatically. Also it symbolizes the chaos that occurs in the universe & how life can easily spiral out of control as it does in the movie.

Dra9onBorn117

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We Were Soldiers picture

Question: Would a sergeant-major participate in a mission?

Answer: This one did, everything ascribed to him in the film was true.

Farmersboy

CSM Plumley's records show that he served in 320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion as a scout. The 320th participated in two glider assaults in the European Theater. Also, Plumley never served in Korea during the Korean War, so he couldn't have participated in one of the two combat jumps of that conflict. His record book indicates he was at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky (1951 to early 1953) when he received orders to Germany. Finally, he never claimed to have made any combat jumps in his career.

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The New Guy picture

Question: Towards the end, just after we find out the Eliza Dushku changed herself a bit too, after she says "no kidding" to Dizzy, what does he say? I can't make it out, and that line's not subtitled on the DVD.

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: He says "I owe you one" in Albanian, like Eliza's character did earlier in the movie.

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Friday After Next picture

Question: What did Day-Day mean when he told Mrs. Pearly that she needed to get something lined up?

Answer: He's insulting Mrs. Pearly by insinuating she has a mustache and that she needs to trim it to look neat.

Bishop73

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Star Trek: Nemesis picture

Question: Wouldn't Shinzon have had to know where the enterprise is being assigned in order lure them to pick up B-4? Data's brain has a safeguard so his positronic energy signature cannot be tracked. And how did he know a different ship instead of the enterprise wouldn't come to Remus to pick up B-4?

Answer: Long range sensors can show the general location of specific ships (this is part of the reason Romulans and Klingons use cloaking devices). All Shinzon has to do is find a remote planet close enough to the Enterprise that would cause them to be the most prudent choice to investigate. It's definitely a gamble but not one that is made without calculation.

BaconIsMyBFF

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Chosen answer: Two hotels were using during filming, The Roosevelt Hotel and The Waldorf-Astoria, both located in New York City.

Ral0618

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Answer: No, she doesn't die. Summary from Wikipedia: Paikia climbs onto the back of the largest whale and coaxes it to re-enter the ocean. The whale leads the whale pod back into the sea; Paikia submerges completely underwater before being thrown off the whale's back by the tide. The spectators fear she has drowned. When Paikia is found alive and brought to the hospital, her grandfather, Koro, declares her the new tribal chief. At the end, Paikia and her family are on the beach, watching the completed canoe being launched into the sea for its maiden voyage.

raywest

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About a Boy picture

Question: What accent does Christine's character speak with? Which part of the UK, social class if anyone knows, etc.? And also the character who's the host in Will's favorite restaurant, the one who says "Will, you're disturbing the other customers"?

Answer: Christine is from Glasgow, Scotland. The maitre d' is Russell Barr (http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0056566/).

jle

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Gangs of New York picture

Question: Can someone please explain to me why the audience and Amsterdam are supposed to hate Butcher so much and think he's a loathesome person? He killed Vallon during a fight, fair and square, and was nothing but respectful to his dead enemy. He almost seemed to have regretted killing Vallon. He didn't act like a worse scum than anyone else until quite a while into the film.

Answer: Well, rather obviously, Amsterdam hates him because he killed his father. I mean, wouldn't you? It hardly matters that the fight was fair and that Bill showed respect about it, Amsterdam's not exactly likely to turn round, say "oh, that's alright then" and walk away. William Cutting (or William Poole, as he was in reality) was a ruthless, vicious man, who pretty much stopped at nothing to cement his control of the area. Whether he was actually worse than many of the others is questionable, but the film is based on Amsterdam's view of things - in that view, Bill is the enemy and we're supposed to see him as such.

Tailkinker

Answer: Because he's very racist. That's why the audience hates him. He's very racist.

Answer: Because he was a racist? Secondarily while others might have acted that badly in his situation he was the one with the power and therefore the one holding a city hostage.

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Windtalkers picture

Question: I can understand why they would use code when talking about positions, objectives, etc. but when they call in the air strike from the battleships, what's the point of using code? Also, later in the film, when the same situation arises, they don't use the code. Seemed like it was just a silly way to introduce the whole premise for the movie.

Answer: The point of using the Navajo code to call in air strikes was to encrypt what the Marines were requesting without the Japanese being able to decipher what was said. This is critical because during the Battle of Saipan, the Japanese made extensive use of caves and reinforced earthworks to support their artillery positions and machine gun nests. The delay between requesting artillery support and the act of carrying it out allowed the Japanese to withdraw their infantry to relative safety before the fire mission could commence. By using PVT Yahzee and PVT Whitehouse, they were able to circumvent this and request attacks without the Japanese knowing what was coming. The only time Yahzee does not use the code is when he uses the Japanese radio to call off the artillery strikes that were falling short and hitting Marines. This situation required immediate attention and it would not have been appropriate to use the code.

Invader_Gir

Answer: They used the code to call in the strike so the Germans couldn't get the U.S. to bomb their own troops. I don't know why it wasn't used in the other situation.

Grumpy Scot

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Blue Crush picture

Question: What's the point of the orange and the marijuana? I didn't quite get that.

Answer: I've been told it's to keep the marijuana moist. The moisture from the orange peel keeps the stuff fresh so that it burns longer. The same happens with an apple peel.

Joe Matallanes

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The Good Girl picture

Question: When Bubba told Justine about the bill for the motel, why did he think she would tell Phil about them? They were never at the motel.

Answer: Bubba was afraid that if Phil confronted Justine about the hotel bill that, not only would she confess about her affair with Holden, but that she might also tell Phil about what happened with Bubba.

ChiChi

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Kung Pow: Enter the Fist picture

Question: Does anyone know if they are really going to make a sequel (Kung Pow: Tongue of Fury)? Or was this just a simple joke at the end to get one last laugh?

Answer: If they do, it will come out in 2006, as it says on IMBD.

tylerasktaylorsteckleralexdenny

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Rose Red picture

Question: After Emery has his fingers cut off and everyone is trapped in the room, Nick informs everyone that Kevin Bollinger hung himself in the Mirror Library after letting Emery's mother into the house. This would make him a ghost obviously, but this creates a problem. How has he been able to appear as a ghost for so long if he must have been alive to let Emery's mother into the house? Did I miss something?

Rosie John

Chosen answer: It was actually the bloated corpse of Kevin that let Emery's mother in, so he wasn't alive when letting her in.

Bishop73

Answer: Then Nick should have said he hung himself before letting Emery's mother in. Also, he turned into a bloated corpse pretty fast but the house has a way of playing tricks.

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