Question: Did that woman really manage to put that huge sausage down her throat or was it really good cgi?
Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
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Question: Whenever the agents are interrogating somebody at SCT, they sometimes torture them. By doing so they sometimes stick a needle into somebody and injects something into their bloodstream. This causes severe pain in the person as you can see them either scream or see the pain etched on their face as they try to hold it in. What is it they are injecting into people and how does it work that it causes so much pain?
Chosen answer: It's a fictional drug called hyoscine-penothal. I don't know if why it causes so much pain has been explained, but it's been described as a neural inflammatory; it gives the feeling of "every nerve ending in your body on fire." It's a useful tool because if one doesn't yield soon enough, at 8 cc's, one can go into cardiac arrest and die before giving up any useful information.
Question: Has there ever been given an official answer as to whose body is in the bathtub in Buffalo Bill's house near the end? It's been a while since I have seen the film, but don't remember any mention of it.
Answer: I read it was the former owner of the house.
Answer: No, there's not been any official statement on the subject.
Question: When Aquarius is descending during re-entry, why is the Navy preparing Search & Rescue instead of the Coast Guard?
Chosen answer: Aquarius was most likely going to splashdown in international waters; since the U.S. Coast Guard only has jurisdiction within American waters, the Navy would have to rescue them.
Answer: Because the Navy was assigned the Search, Rescue and Recovery task for all of NASA's space program. Imagine how long it would take the Coast Guard to get to the other side of the world.
Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy - S5-E15
Question: I'm confused. How did Monk typing the girl's address into his computer make the address come up on the screen and hence lead the SWAT team to her house?
Chosen answer: It was Julie's laptop, and when Monk plugged it into the SWAT team's system, Julie's friend's address (where the teen girls were having a slumber party) popped up and fooled the cops into thinking that it was the perp's house. Highly unlikely, true, but the SWAT guys storming into a house full of squealing teenage girls in pink nighties did make for a very funny scene.
Answer: Julies Laptop was using the SFPD's Internet to receive mails from that girls house i.e. the girl throwing the party. So, the FBI thought that the girls house was the perp's house because of the connection from Julie's laptop to the girl's house.
Question: Do the earphones Ryan Reynolds uses at the beginning actually exist? I don't think I've ever seen wireless earphones that small.
Chosen answer: The closest thing to them available in reality appears to be these: http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser/icm_eng.nsf/root/press_releases__07.01.2008.
Question: When Jack saves Elizabeth from drowning, why is the Governor's first reaction to have Jack shot before he even discovers he's a pirate? He didn't know Jack was a pirate because he's shocked a moment later when Norrington reveals Jack is a pirate.
Answer: Jack's just stripped Elizabeth down to her underdress and, while Swann may not know that he's a pirate, it's pretty easy to tell that Jack's not exactly the sort of person who should be stripping governor's daughters. Swann's over-protectiveness and sense of social outrage might be a bit extreme, but given that he's just seen his daughter fall from a high cliff, nearly drown, then be dragged from the sea by a ruffian, a degree of over-reaction isn't entirely unreasonable.
Question: Why does John stand with his arms open when Cecil's trap breaks? Was it some kind of challenge so he would charge at him and fall into the barbed wire or something else?
Answer: It appears that this is the case. The first trap failed, so by challenging him, John is simply giving Cecil an improvised second test. If Cecil had stopped to think it through, he may not have been hurled into the razor wire. Of course we are never given an official explanation, so it is up to debate, but this seems to be the most reasonable answer.
Question: After explaining why it is illogical to play the lottery, Charlie asks the FBI agent if he ever plays craps. I didn't get the joke. Any help?
Answer: Craps is a casino game where players bet on the outcome of a dice roll. It deals heavily with probabilities and is a favorite of math experts like Charlie. Whatever the odds, though, your chances of winning are much greater than winning the lottery.
Question: When the first golden ticket is found, it seems like the news reporter has antlers on his head. Did they intentionally do that, or was it an accident?
Answer: It is almost certainly on purpose; it fits the kind of comedy of the movie, and the editors would had to have been really dull not to notice it if it was an accident.
Question: I know that the condition Lucy suffers from in the movie does not really exist. But what about the condition suffered by 10-second Tom, who loses his memory every 10 seconds. Does that condition really exist?
Answer: Yes it is called anterograde amnesia.
Answer: You might be interested in reading this. Clive Wearing looses his memory after 7 seconds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Wearing.
Answer: Actually, there is a British woman named Michelle Philpots, whose story might have inspired the movie. She was in a motorbike accident and later, a car accident. She wakes up every day and believes that she is still in the year 1994. Unlike the Lucy character, however, she can unexpectedly forget things during the day, instead of being "reset" over night.
Question: What was the fate of all five series' captains?
Answer: According to on-screen text visible in one episode, Jonathan Archer served as Chief of Staff at Starfleet Command, then was appointed Federation ambassador to Andoria. He then served on the Federation Council, before finally holding the office of Federation President for eight years. According to additional biographical text that ultimately never appeared on-screen (and therefore may not be canon), Archer died peacefully at home in 2245, the day after attending the launch ceremony of the Enterprise NCC-1701. James T. Kirk died on Veridian III in 2371, 78 years after he was believed killed on the Enterprise-B, as seen in Star Trek: Generations (although novels written by William Shatner have resurrected the character for further adventures, these are of uncertain canonicity at best). Jean-Luc Picard remains in command of the Enterprise-E; while a future version has been seen as an ex-Federation Ambassador suffering from the lethal irumodic syndrome, this remains only a possible future. Benjamin Sisko was taken into the Celestial Temple by the Bajoran Prophets; a series of follow-up books reveals that he eventually returns and lives on Bajor with his family, but, as with Kirk, the canonicity of these novels remains unclear. Kathryn Janeway was promoted to Vice Admiral upon Voyager's return from the Delta Quadrant and, when last seen, held a position at Starfleet Command.
Question: Steve Zahn's character avoids being in the prison population by repeatedly hitting the prison guards and ending up in solitary confinement. Wouldn't assaulting a prison guard also add time to his sentence?
Chosen answer: It could, but they would have to bring charges against him, and have a new trial for that crime. It would most likely prevent him from getting a early parole.
Question: It is said in the movie that Japanese legend claims that when someone dies violently their spirit haunts the place where they died and kill anyone who enters that place (or something like that). Was this made up for the purpose of the movie or is this an actual Japanese legend? If so, is there a place on the Internet where I can read about the legend?
Chosen answer: A bit of both. A variation on a traditional legend. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onryou.
Question: Why was Thomas Gates' name on that page?
Answer: Gates' name was added by Wilkinson to get Ben to do all the work in finding the treasure (as that would prove Thomas's innocence).
I disagree, Gate's name was always on the page. Presumably the investigation of the page would have revealed that it was a recent addition not a contemporary part of the text if this were not the case. Perhaps a simpler explanation is just that the conspirators needed to consult gates due to his deciphering skills, hence his name on the page, which explains the name "mastermind" as well.
Thomas Gates was on the page listed as "Artifex" which just means a practitioner of a craft. Mitch tries to say it's a "mastermind" but that's not 100% true, it could be but also just an expert at something. The museum curator who says, "we'll have this authenticated" was paid off by Mitch, so Mitch could very well have added the name and the curator lied.
Mitch says in the movie that adding Thomas's name to the page was the only thing he could think of to get Ben "in on the hunt." He says it at the end of the movie when he is apologizing for smearing Ben's "great great granddaddy's" good name.
Why does finding the treasure prove Thomas Gates' innocence anyway?
Question: When Linguini brings Remy to his apartment for the first time and Linguini falls asleep on the couch, there is an old movie playing on the television. Is this little segment we see about dreaming in Paris a nod to an actual movie or is it just something the Pixar team made up?
Answer: The film is 1945's "Brief Encounter" - see: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0037558/.
Question: Is there any reason why the sushi chef bothers haggling with Deckard in his native language when it's revealed not two seconds later he actually speaks perfect English?
Answer: Why shouldn't he? Just because he speaks English, it doesn't automatically mean that he must therefore bow to the linguistic preferences of others and use it. Many people take pride in their native tongues and prefer to use it. And if it puts Deckard at some small disadvantage in the haggling, so much the better.
Question: Is there any reference to where Annie Wilkes goes at night when she is angry or depressed?
Answer: According to the book, she goes to what she calls her "laughing place", itself a reference to the Disney movie "Song of the South", in which Brer Rabbit sings about having a "laughing place" where he goes when he's feeling blue, to cheer himself up. We can presume Annie has some cabin or clearing in the woods where she has made her own "laughing place."
Question: When Yoda tells Darth Sidious that his faith in Vader may be misplaced, is it because he thinks, at the time, that Obi-wan can bring Anakin back?
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Answer: She actually can do it, and became somewhat famous for it. She was on the Howard Stern radio show, and WOR-TV show several times.
wizard_of_gore ★