Best biography movie questions of all time

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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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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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Monster picture

Question: Was Christina Ricci's arm cast written in the script, or was her arm really broken and they kept her in the role anyway? The cast just seems like an inconvenient and cumbersome thing for an actor to deal with, given that it really lends nothing of importance to the story.

Krista

Chosen answer: It was very relevant to the story. Because Sadie's arm was in a cast, she couldn't get a job. Without a job, she had to move back home to her parents.

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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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Ted Bundy picture

Question: How did Ted Bundy manage to fool law enforcement, and evade them for years before finally being arrested?

Answer: I don't think he fooled police. He was clever and able to commit murders without leaving enough evidence to directly tie him to the crime. Eventually there was enough physical as well as circumstantial and eye witness accounts to convict him. He evaded police for stretches of time by flying under the radar and carefully calculating his moves. Weird writing about this as he terrorized my city.

raywest

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The Pursuit of Happyness picture

Question: Why is the word "Happiness" in the title misspelled?

Answer: In an interview, the real-life Chris Gardiner, (played by Will Smith) explained that the deliberately misspelled word was written that way on the child daycare center's wall (representing how children can sometimes misspell words). Gardiner later interpreted it to personally mean that true happiness is not defined in just one way, there are many ways to be happy, and that was reflected in the alternate spelling.

raywest

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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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Answer: Cardinal Law may have disinvited him out of suspicion. Or maybe just a clerical error.

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Into the Wild picture

Question: Alexander shoots the moose with a rather rapid fire action: it sounds as if the rifle is semi-automatic. What was the true story, and why did Alexander specifically ask for a a cal .22 rifle? Was it because he planned to hunt small game, and knew that a heavier rifle/calibre would be unsuitable? To plan for moose hunting, he would choose something like cal.308.

Answer: Having read Krakauers book: The rifle was a .22 Remington scoped semiautomatic. Accounts at the time mention that this may not have been the best choice, and it is clear that McCandless did not have enough experience to live in the wild, although it is impressing enough that he managed to survive for 16 weeks.

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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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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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Lone Survivor picture

Question: What did they mean in their meeting about no medicine on the mission?

Answer: The exact quote was "there's no medicine in a gunfight," meaning the SEALs couldn't just stop shooting at the enemy to help another SEAL who was injured. They're speaking more broadly of the "Self-aid" concept, where each person needs to look out for himself until someone else can come provide medical assistance.

Excellent answer.

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Answer: Absolutely. White Castle is credited as the first "fast food" chain in the United States. The company began its traditional brick and mortar, fast food burger operation in 1921 but had operated as a food cart company since 1916.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: There is no double level bridge out of New York city.

I'm not sure what this comment is a response to, but it's not an answer to this question.

Bishop73

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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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Answer: He was a fictional character. However, Apatow says he was playing a version of himself, though he didn't initially realise that when being cast. He claims he is not that bad in real life; his character is also an amalgam of other producers.

raywest

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Mask picture

Question: I don't know if this is a urban myth or what, but didn't the real Rocky Dennis like Bruce Springsteen, but "The Boss" or his manager/lawyer, etc refused to allow the music to be used in the movie and that is why Bob Seger's tunes were used instead?

Answer: According to the IMDb, so take with a degree of scepticism, Rocky's favourite music was indeed Springsteen and the Boss himself was happy for it to be used, but, at the time of the original release, an agreement regarding royalty rates could not be reached with the rights owner. A director's cut was released a while later with seven minute of additional footage and the Springsteen songs used instead, after Springsteen pushed for an agreement to be made.

Tailkinker

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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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Gandhi picture

Question: What reason did the British general give for having opened fire on the unarmed crowd?

Answer: Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer has said his intent "was not to disperse the meeting but to punish the Indians for disobedience." Earlier that day, Dyer has banned all meetings to avoid any insurrection, but many still gathered to celebrate and protest. Dyer saw it as defiance of his order and thought it could be another mob insurgent he had seen earlier. Some reports also state while the crowd was "unarmed", that only referred to being unarmed with firearms and many in the crowd did have other types of weapons. It also seems at the time it was standard practice for the British Army to use necessary lethal force for civilian crowd control, although many saw Dyer's action to be in excess.

Bishop73

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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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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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