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.

Season 1 generally

Question: When Claire is pregnant with her baby, her belly looks very realistic. Does anyone know how they make it look so real?

Answer: Using a mold, a realistic pregnancy belly is made of latex (rubber), including the distinct belly button, to suit the proportions of Emilie de Ravin who plays Claire. It is then painted with a special paint/adhesive compound that adheres to the surface and for shots of the actual belly, additional veining and stretch marks are airbrushed on.

Super Grover

Question: I am curious what that round thing is during the Think of Me sequence. When the camera goes down through the grate to get to the phantom below the stage, It is on the floor right next to the grate. It looks like an ash tray but I am not sure.

Answer: The large gold round object is definately an ashtray, as you can see the cigarettes in it. The smaller black round object looks to me like an inkwell.

Question: In Return Of The Jedi when Ben is discussing with Luke about Leia being his sister, Ben says, "When your father left, he didn't know your mother was pregnant. Your mother and I knew he would find out eventually, but we wanted to keep you both as safe as possible, for as long as possible." This doesn't match up with what happens in Episode III because Vader knew that Padme was pregnant, just not with twins, and Ben and Padme had no time to discuss how to keep them safe. I ask this as a question rather than a mistake in case I am missing something.

Answer: Obi-wan never says anything of the sort (although that line's in the novelisation, but only the movies are regarded as canon). What he says is "To protect you both from the Emperor, you were hidden from your father when you were born. The Emperor knew, as I did, if Anakin were to have any offspring, they would be a threat to him. That is the reason why your sister remains safely anonymous." He never mentions what Anakin may or may not have known at all.

Garlonuss

Question: I listened to the scene where Harry goes to visit Ron and Hermione at the end after he gets out of the hospital wing. Ron and Hermione apparently have a conversation that's not appropriate for a PG rated movie, and I turned it up as loud as I could, and I heard Ron say something like, "I have this black shirt." Can anyone tell me what he really is saying?

leyesalot82789

Chosen answer: While he stands at the top of the stairs with Hermione, Ron says, "I had a resurrection!!", referring to his 'near death' experience on the chess board earlier in the film. Some people mis-hear it as a reference to "an erection" which is why you may have heard people think it's inappropriate.

Super Grover

Show generally

Question: I went on a website recently and it showed a screenshot from a Simpsons episode with an iPod in it. I'd like to know what is the episode called and what season is it in?

OL1V3R666

Chosen answer: After only five minutes of researching this, I found two times when the iPod was spotted in the Simpsons. First, when Homer was in some sort of religious store, he saw a poster for iGod with a clear silhoute of God rocking with an iPod. That episode is titled "Thank God it's Doomsday". It's episode ID is GABF14, meaning it was from Season 16. In another episode, which takes place at Lisa's prom, the DJ is simply an iPod. This episode is "Future-Drama" and, believe it or not, aired just bfeore "Thank God it's Doomsday", meaning it too is season 16. Hope this helps.

Question: When we first see Marcellus he has a plaster on his neck. Anyone know why?

Mortug

Chosen answer: Some would say that it's a plot device to show that Wallace sold his soul to the devil (the devil removes the soul through the neck) and the contents of the briefcase is his soul. The real answer is that Ving Rames had a small cut on the back of his neck that was caused by shaving his head. Quentin liked the look of the plaster and they left it on.

RJR99SS

Question: What exactly is the difference between the former US hockey style and the 'hybrid Soviet/Canadian' style that Brooks implements? What is different about how they actually play the game. All Brooks ever says in the film itself is some vague stuff about flow, creativity, and keeping options open. The special features expand on this a bit: circling within positions and being ready to come out of your position if an opportunity presents itself. Is this it, or was there more to it?

Answer: You've pretty much got it. The big difference is that with the traditional North American style of play (at that time), everyone had stayed in the section of the ice indicated by their position. For example, if you were a left winger, you stayed on the left side and moved straight up and down the length of the ice as play progressed, staying in your own little zone. The Soviets, however, were given the freedom to move around the whole playing area, constantly weaving, circling in and out of their positions, and anticipating where their teammates were going to be as they made their passes (as Kurt Russell explains during the film footage he was playing for the team). This freedom of movement meant that each player would have more passing options when in possession of the puck. This system therefore also required that the members of the team become very cohesive and know each other on a deep personal level on and off the ice so that each player, knowing the styles, habits and strengths of each teammate, could anticipate where each teammate would be and make the pass accordingly. At the meeting at the beginning of the movie, Russel explains that "team chemistry" is the most important prerequisite for learing this new "hybrid" style of play. And we see examples of it later in the movie when players are calling out their teammates' nicknames before passing the puck (e.g., "I'm with ya Buzzy!" or "Rizzo! Rizzo!").

Matty Blast

Question: Strange question, but I was wondering why the soldiers were using what looks like a Vietnam-era M60 machine gun. Wouldn't they be using the newer version of the gun the M60E3 (which looks different than an old M60 - most notably the fore grip), which was reportedly lighter and easier to use? Also, the M249 SAW (FN Minimi) is carried by a few soldiers and I've been told that this much-more-reliable gun replaced the older weapon entirely.

Answer: At the time of the battle, not all units had gotten or were going to get the M60E3 which was mostly issued to Special Forces units. The M249 SAW has neither the range or power of the M60. It is designed to provide extra firepower to a squad and it will only supplement the M60E.

Grumpy Scot

Question: I know that an regular alien comes from a face-hugger, but how do they make a queen alien?

Answer: There are a couple of methods according to the novelizations and movie supplements. None are "official", but they all make sense. 1. A queen can lay a "queen egg" if she needs to. 2. When enough drones are hatched, they will sense the need for a queen and one of them will spin a cocoon and transform into a queen over a few days. 3. When a hive reaches a certain size, a few aliens (they where called "nurses" in the books) would hatch and feed a substance into certain eggs causing the facehugger to carry a queen embryo. As the aliens are based on certain types of wasp, originally, these methods are all pretty logical.

Grumpy Scot

Question: I was wondering if there were any plans to bring out a special edition DVD of Shaun Of The Dead, or should I just buy the normal version rather than wait?

Answer: The regular DVD has four commentaries, outtakes, deleted scenes, assorted featurettes and a number of other extras ranging from the mundane to the utterly bizarre. Hard to imagine that they've got anything left that could be added to a future special edition. I'd just go for it, if I was you. And I did. Even though I'm not you. Just in case you were worried.

Tailkinker

Question: During the SEAL team raid on the rock, they are using two "decoy choppers" which fly towards Alcatraz. What is the point of this? Wouldn't it be easier to just have the transport chopper fly all the way to drop zone under radar coverage?

killin_kellit

Chosen answer: Alcatraz is small enough and out in the middle of the bay that any lookout in a high point could see and hear a chopper, no matter where it approached from. The idea of the decoys was to split any enemy fire received. The whole insertion of SEALS was absurd, in a real situation like that, the SEALS would have been inserted by submarine or used dive motors to pull themselves to the island.

Grumpy Scot

Question: When McClane comes across the two terrorists in the luggage hold, what exactly are they doing? They finish the process before McLane calls out to them (one says, "We're ready to roll", or something similar). Any ideas?

Answer: Not too long after the special forces team arrives, one of them finds a device in the luggage area and said something like "Traced the signal. Found it in the luggage belt." They'd planted it there to listen to the tower chatter.

Mister Ed

Chosen answer: Absolutely correct. Similarly, the Episode I dispute between Naboo and the Trade Federation was an excuse for Palpatine to become Supreme Chancellor. And in Episode II, the separatist movement was an excuse for him to be given emergency powers, so he and Dooku could get the Clone Wars started.

Matty Blast

Show generally

Question: In two episodes I have seen an automobile license plate on a vehicle parked on Wisteria Lane that has on it the slogan "The Eagle State." I have looked this up on the Internet and the only state I can find that is "The Eagle State" is Mississippi. Surely Wisteria Lane is not in Mississippi. Is California also "The Eagle State"? Is there any explanation for this automobile license tag?

Kathleen Albers

Chosen answer: The state is purposely left unsaid and only referred to as "The Eagle State" - this is done to imply that Wisteria Lane could be in any suburb in America. The vehicle could be from out of state.

Steph_Jared

Question: In the scene where Padme is giving birth, what is it that she says to Obi-Wan before she dies?

Answer: She says, "There is still good in him, Obi-Wan. There is still good."

AdmRose

Question: How did the Emperor know that the rebels were going to destroy the new and improved Death Star and that other rebels were going to Endor?

Answer: He has a galaxy-wide intelligence network, plus the insights gained through the Force. He's aware that the Rebels have obtained information about the new Death Star - he claimed to have leaked it himself as part of a trap, but it's possible that he was lying. Either way, he knows that the Rebellion can hardly pass up a chance to destroy the Death Star before it's completed, particularly as they believe that it's not yet operational. As for Endor, it's stated quite clearly that the Death Star is protected by a powerful force field projected from a shield generator on Endor. As no ships can get through the field, that generator has to be the initial target for the Rebels - unless it's taken out, the attack on the Death Star itself cannot proceed.

Tailkinker

Question: Why didn't Neo kill the Architect before he left to save Trinity? The Architect seemed important to the machines.

Answer: The Architect, is the father and creator of the Matrix. Not only is he important to the machines, he is important to the Matrix itself. Killing him would most likely affect the Matrix in some way.

Sir William

Question: Do any important events happen between the end of Episode III and the beginning of Episode IV?

Sir William

Chosen answer: It depends on whether you choose to view the Expanded Universe (non-movie) stuff as part of the proper Star Wars "universe", but some important events include the start of the Rebellion, Han Solo rescuing Chewbacca from Imperial capture, Lando Calrissian losing the Millennium Falcon to Han, and of course, the capture of the Death Star plans by the Alliance. As of 2016 the events of Rogue One are documented on film, together with other new canonical novels, comics, TV series, etc., and the Expanded Universe has been disregarded.

Xofer

Question: Where and/or when are we told that Rose has actually died at the end when she returns to the Titanic?

Answer: While its never confirmed she has died, it seems like she died in her sleep after throwing the necklace back into the ocean. After we see her in bed, she is on the Titanic and everyone who died is standing around implying she is now seeing all these people again now that she has died. This could also just be a dream.

Lummie

Question: After the opening credits, during the short dialogue between Trinity and Tank, they talk about Neo and he says, "We're gonna kill him, understand that". Why are they going to kill him?

Answer: They're not going to kill him themselves, the statement is meant to refer to the fact that the course of action that they're going to take is likely to lead to his death - possibly because he's really too old to be freed, or because he'll do something stupid because he believes that he's the One, something that the rest of the crew seem less than convinced about.

Tailkinker

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