Best biography movie questions of all time

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Blow picture

Question: Considering how small her role was (in relation to the film's running time), why did Penelope Cruz earn second billing behind Johnny Depp?

Cubs Fan

Chosen answer: A star's screen time does not equate to what position they are billed at on a film. It generally relates to the selling power of their name. The film's main star would obviously be Depp. Cruz however would still be higher than people like Liotta, Reubens, etc. as her name is more known. It also helps with selling the film to audiences than just a one actor film.

Lummie

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Selena picture

Question: Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the credits show that Panchito Gomez played young Abraham. I've seen Panchito Gomez in 80's movies such as Tuff Turf and he doesn't resemble at all the actor playing young Abraham. However, he DOES resemble the gentleman in the cowboy hat who stiffs Abraham money for Selena's performance and says "She's just a woman." I always wondered if the credits made a mistake. Anyone know?

Answer: Looking at the credits on IMDB it does show that Panchito Gomez played young Abraham in Selena as well as the role in Tuff Turf. Given that 12 years had passed between the two movies, it's possible that Panchito had gotten older and didn't look like he was when he was 22 compared to mid 30s.

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A Beautiful Mind picture

Question: What is written on the rear window in a foreign language?

Answer: You do not specify to which scene you are referring. The only window I recall with writing on it would be the window in Nash's room. John had covered this window in mathematical equations, theorems and geometric patterns. While most of the symbols used are Greek in origin, the language is simply that of mathematics.

Michael Albert

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Girl with a Pearl Earring picture

Question: Does Greit say yes when Peiter asks her to marry him? I couldn't work this out.

Answer: Obviously, since she married him in the end.

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Seven Years in Tibet picture

Question: Is David Thewlis still banned from entering the China for his role in this movie? I know that Brad Pitt's ban was lifted in 2014, but was Thewlis' ban lifted too?

Answer: Brad Pitt's ban was lifted in 2014, but David Thewlis is still banned from entering China to this day.

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Rob Roy picture

Question: After Mary is raped, she begins cleaning herself off in the water in front of Alasdair who immediately figures out what happened and of course wants to tell Rob, so he'll avenge her. But she's extremely adamant that Alasdair not tell Rob about it. But if she REALLY didn't want Rob to know, wouldn't she have waited until she was alone to clean herself up? I'm always confused by this, because when she tells Alasdair to keep quiet, she never seems to be hinting that she doesn't really mean what she says. On the contrary, she's very passionate about it.

Krista

Chosen answer: She wants to clean herself thoroughly ASAP, so as to avoid pregnancy (though that way doesn't work anyway); if she waited until she was alone, it would've been too late to even try.

Xofer

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Hollywoodland picture

Question: I was wondering whether the evidence that Adrian Brody gathered was true, or if it's artistic license. It seems that if it were true, there should have been a further inquiry into George Reeve's death.

Answer: Here is a good link that will help separate fact from fiction. http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/george_reeves/1_index.html.

pross79

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Cannibal! The Musical picture

Question: Does anyone know if there is a soundtrack (CD) for this movie available anywhere?

Answer: I doubt it as, the film was made during Parker's college years, but every song asis available as an mp3 at www.cannibalthemusical.net.

Answer: You can now buy it via the link - it became available in May 2024: https://www.klaaturecords.com/products/cannibal-the-musical-music-from-the-motion-picture-soundtrack.

Heather Benton

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The Theory of Everything picture

Question: Near the end of the film, Stephen asks Jane how long he has to live, and she says two years. But I thought they already established he had two years near the start of the film. Can someone please explain this?

MikeH

Chosen answer: Throughout his existence, prognoses of the life expectancy for Dr. Stephen Hawking have been repeatedly offered and then surpassed. He continues to amaze with not only his brilliance, but his resilience. In this case it sounds like a callback to the initial estimate, which was demonstrably inaccurate.

Michael Albert

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Downfall picture

Question: Why is this movie parodied online?

Answer: The "Hitler in the bunker" scene is iconic for historical reasons, being something most people understand the significance of. Being subtitled in the film means it's very easy for people to keep the original excellent acting while simply replacing the words onscreen to change the context entirely. It also ends up being a bit self-reinforcing, once people get wind of it as a "template", they then start getting their own ideas. And there's the arguable "Streisand Effect", when the film company issued a wave of copyright takedowns in 2010, a lot of people "retaliated" by making and uploading even more.

Answer: Presumably, due to its popularity.

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Professor Marston and the Wonder Women picture

Question: Assuming people knew, how did Marston avoid trouble for living with two wives?

Rob245

Answer: Though it may be considered immoral and socially unacceptable, particularly during the film's 1940s time frame, it is not illegal to live with multiple people in a sexual relationship. It is only illegal to be married to more than one person at the same time. Marston was not a bigamist. He was legally married to his wife, Elizabeth. They engaged in a consensual polyamorous (not polygamous) relationship with Olive, who was not married to Marston.

raywest

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Walking Tall picture

Question: How could Chris have legally become sheriff? Wouldn't he have had to go to law enforcement school or academy before he could have been considered for a role as sheriff?

Answer: The role of sheriff is an elected, political position, and as recent US politics have shown, one can be elected to office with little or no previous relevant experience.

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Man on the Moon picture

Question: What is the meaning of bit at the end of the movie, the big guy with the sunglasses? It shows Andy's 'sidekick' and the guy on stage, who was in the suit entertaining the crowd?

Answer: We're supposed to wonder if Andy didn't really fake his own death.

Xofer

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Capote picture

Question: Near the beginning of the film, Capote is talking about a story involving a gay black man being in love with a Jew. Since all the rest of his anecdotes involve real people and/or works, does anyone know which book he's talking about?

Xofer

Chosen answer: He is talking about 'Giovanni's Room' a novel by James Baldwin.

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Geronimo picture

Question: When the jug was hit, how did the bullet not hit the horse behind it?

Answer: In reality, the bullet probably would have hit the horse, injuring it. Movies tend to gloss over details like that to serve and simplify the plot. Older movies particularly fudged reality, assuming audiences would not notice or care. It is also possible that the bullet was somehow deflected or broke up upon impact.

raywest

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This Boy's Life picture

Question: In the book, Dwight and Toby paint the whole house white, including the piano. But in the movie, I don't remember that scene. They definitely have movie still photos though of Robert De Niro and Leonrdo DiCaprio covered in white paint. Anyone understand this?

Answer: It's typical in movies that more scenes are filmed than what makes it into the final film. This has to do with continuity, the film's overall length, plotting, etc. If a certain scene does not serve the overall story structure, then it is edited out. Sometimes the studio insists that certain scenes be cut, even over a director's objections. After a movie is released on DVD, the deleted scenes may be restored in a "director's cut" or there's a separate section showing all the edited portions.

raywest

Thanks! Just wanted to make sure I wasn't making it up.

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Chosen answer: Michael Douglas was not playing the piano himself. Special effects were used to digitally graft Douglas' head onto the body of Philip Fortenberry, a Julliard-trained pianist who also once played at the now-closed Liberace Museum in Las Vegas.

raywest

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Monster picture

Question: Is it true that Lee was able to steal enough money from her victims to buy a house (or even just put a down payment on it?) I would assume she could only use cash, and it seems unfeasible that she'd be able to acquire that much cash from people's wallets without murdering hundreds of them.

Krista

Chosen answer: In the story it shows she does not kill every man. It is possible she had sex with multiple men without killing them and got more money (but maybe not that much) than just what she stole from the men she killed.

Answer: They never bought a house. They lived in cheap hotel rooms where Tyria Moore (Selby's real name) worked as a chamber maid.

Rob245

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The People vs. Larry Flynt picture

Question: When Althea visits Larry in jail, she holds up a small notebook for a split second with something written on it. Does anybody know what it said?

Answer: It says "Can you guess where my finger is?"

Answer: It says, "Larry, where is my finger?"

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Foxcatcher picture

Question: Dave Schultz trained Kurt Angle. Did Kurt (or at least someone playing him) appear in the film?

Answer: No actor is credited for the role of Kurt Angle, and there are no overt references to him in the film.

BaconIsMyBFF

Thank you.

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