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.

Answer: A movie director. Was married to Sharron Tate, who was murdered by Charles Manson's followers. Won an Oscar for Best Director for the Piano. Any search engine will give you more info on him.

Jane Doe

Question: What poem does Peter try to recite to MJ?

Answer: "The Song Of Hiawatha," the same one he was reading in the laundromat.

Xofer

Question: Does anyone actually know how old Wolverine is? When Jean is telling the X-men after his physical, she mentions that he may actually be older than the professor.

Answer: According to the comics (which may differ from the films), Logan was born James Howlett, in the latter part of the 19th century, most likely around 1890.

Tailkinker

Question: What happened to that huge apartment Peter and Harry shared? Now Peter lives in a very small room in a boarding house.

Answer: When Norman Osborne died, Harry moved into his apartment. Peter was not able to keep up rent on their old apartment so he had to move to the smaller room.

Nick N.

Question: I don't understand what that look Mary Jane has at the end of the movie is all about. Is it something for the next movie, something from the comic books? If they had ended the movie just before that, it would have been a plausible ending, so I'm curious as to why that look was put in there.

Answer: She's happy to be with Peter, but she also recognizes that he has a duty that he can never set aside. For the rest of their relationship, he'll be keeping odd hours, constantly in mortal danger, and an indirect threat to her life if his identity is discovered by his enemies. She's not happy that he has to be Spider-Man, but she does understand and is ready to face a long, hard relationship.

Phoenix

Question: Does Peter know that Norman is the Goblin before he takes his helmet off near the end of the movie?

Answer: It doesn't appear so, no. While he knows that Norman has been acting a little weirdly, it's a big leap from there to suspecting that Norman is the Goblin.

Tailkinker

Answer: From his initial reaction I'd say not - he was shocked that the green goblin was indeed Norman Osborne after all he'd been fighting he's best friends father all along, so his look of confusion is understandable.

Question: I got the feeling with Aunt May's speech that she knew Peter was Spider-Man, but it never specifically said if she did or not. Does she?

Jack's Revenge

Chosen answer: It's never specifically stated, but the general impression is that yes, she knows. In the classic Spider-Man comics, shortly before her (natural) death Aunt May tells Peter that she's known he was Spider-Man for a long time, and that she was very proud of him. We never know exactly when Aunt May makes the connection but it's safe to say that, based on the speech she gave Peter in the movie, she knows now.

Chosen answer: Probably in Washington. He rejoined active duty in 1940, was assigned to consult with industry re aircraft manufacture; also a trip to England on special mission to evaluate other countries' air power. He requested a return to flying status but was refused. He then was asked to assess feasablity of a air attack on Japan from carrier based planes, and when he asked to lead the mission his request was accepted.

Question: It is known through articles and interviews that Mel Gibson is considered a traditional Catholic, one who rejects Vatican II. Since there are many traditional Catholic sects (ranging from those are affliated with the Pope to those who reject his authority), who does Gibson represent?

megamii

Chosen answer: Gibson is a member of a small independent congregation called "The Holy Family" - total membership is about 70, and they worship in a chapel that was paid for by Gibson himself. As with pretty much all the traditionalist groups, they celebrate Mass in Latin, not abolished, but the mass was now to be celebrated in the vernacular, by the Second Vatican Council in 1964/65. They appear to be quite moderate by the standards of traditional Catholics - the more extreme elements regard the Vatican as a hotbed of heresy - Gibson previewed his film for the Pope, which implies a certain amount of acceptance. The Holy Family has, at one point, had a falling out (reasons unclear) with the Society of St Pius X, the largest traditionalist group, so it's unclear precisely where they lie within the Catholic spectrum.

Tailkinker

Question: Is is a coincidence that Claudia wears blue dresses so frequently? I was wondering if it is because blue is a color that Louis loves so much.

Answer: Given that Claudia is very fond of Louis, I suspect that you've hit the nail on the head with your suggestion.

Tailkinker

Question: When Neo and Trinity reached the Machine City, or really got close to it, couldn't they have blown an EMP thus destroying all the machines and causing the war to end? In fact, couldn't one ship from the fleet have done that some other times before this event?

Answer: Trinity and Neo's ship is very badly damaged in the approach to the Machine City, so there is no guarantee that the EMP still works. They don't know the exact location of the Deus Ex Machina either, so any blow could just knock out a few hundred Sentinels instead of causing lasting damage. No other ship has ever penetrated the Machines' defensive grid, the one that Neo destroys through his connection with the Source.

Phoenix

Chosen answer: The Lizard (not Lizard Man) is Dr. Curt Connors, Peter's professor, or at least, he will be. Dr. Connors, if you remember, has no right arm; he becomes the Lizard (in the comics, anyway) trying to use reptile DNA (or something similar) to replicate reptiles' regenerative powers (since some reptiles, like skinks, can regrow their tails).

Xofer

Question: Why does the black haired courtesan, (I believe her name is nini-legs-in-the-air) Give the game away to the duke? Is she supposed to have a specific problem with Satine, or Ewan Mcgregor, or both?

Answer: It's not clear, but it seems most likely that she resents Satine's status as top courtesan, and the rich clients that she attracts as a consequence. Trying to ingratiate herself with the rich Duke, while simultaneously bringing Satine down a notch or two, seems like part of this resentment.

Tailkinker

Question: Are the paintings of Spider-man 1 in the credits from a comic adaptation of the movie, or trading cards, or something like that, or were they done specially for Spider-man 2?

Xofer

Chosen answer: They were painted exclusively for Spider-Man 2, by Alex Ross, who painted the very famous Kingdom Come storyline a few years back.

DenizenZERO

Question: How exactly does the device that Vincent uses on his legs to make him taller work?

Answer: The leg bones are fractured completely across, at a location between the rings of the device. Thereafter, while the bones are knitting back together, the device is periodically adjusted to drag the bones away from each other a fraction of an inch. The bones continue to grow toward each other to close the gap, gradually lengthening. It is an astoundingly painful way to add height.

Rooster of Doom

Question: Did Denethor in the original book suffer from some form of mental illness?

megamii

Chosen answer: Not exactly. While this isn't stated in the film (unless it appears in the Extended Cut), Denethor has access to a palantir, like the one Saruman possessed that Pippin ultimately looks in. Denethor has used this palantir to follow events in Middle-Earth, but, just as Pippin did, he has encountered Sauron. The Dark Lord used this opportunity to mess with Denethor's mind, bringing him to the point of terrible despair, where he simply cannot conceive of anything other than defeat at Sauron's hands. This affects Denethor's judgement horribly, leading him to first send out Faramir's suicide mission, and then to break completely when he sees the Mordor forces arrayed against him.

Tailkinker

Question: The ring of Barahir that Aragorn wears - what is 'Barahir' ? A person or place?

Answer: Barahir was a human warrior in the First Age, who was given the ring that bears his name by an elf whose life he saved in the great battles of that Age. The ring has been passed down through many generations to his distant descendant, Aragorn.

Tailkinker

Question: Throughout the movie Samara is about ten, but she comes out Noah's television as someone who is about twenty. Why the difference?

Answer: She is still in her 10's - the reason why she looks older is because her corpse is rotten.

Malaver

I've noticed that too. It is mentioned in IMDB that this scene was played by an uncredited stuntwoman and not the actress who played Samara. That actress probably was older.

Chosen answer: After extensive research on the internet, I couldn't find any stories to explain this. It would not be unreasonable to say that Marlo Thomas had not appeared on the show for 6 years - last time we saw her she was 59, and in this episode she is 65. She is an ordinary woman who works hard, and simply looks older.

He's My Brother

Question: Can anyone explain why Obi-Wan holds up his lightsaber and allows Vader to kill him. Is it something to do with why he comes back as a 'ghost', and so he can help Luke?

Answer: Obi-Wan sacrificed himself because he knew he wouldn't make it back to the Falcon. Vader and the Stormtroopers would have seen to that and the disabling of the Tractor Beam would have been discovered at any time. He also knew Luke would never leave without him, so he prepared himself for death, which why he and Yoda disappeared.

Answer: It does seem to be something along those lines, yes. There's obviously some reason why Obi-wan and Yoda simply vanished at the point of death, while none of the Jedi portrayed in the prequel trilogy films have apparently done so - this will hopefully be explained in the remaining film. A theory put forward in the books is that a Jedi at the point of death can choose to attach himself to another nearby Force sensitive, providing them with some of their strength and, as we see, guidance. If this does turn out to be correct, then it seems that Obi-wan realised that he himself would be unable to defeat Vader, but that Luke might be able to. As such, he chose to sacrifice himself to give Luke an extra edge in his adventures ahead.

Tailkinker

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