Jon Sandys

27th Apr 2004

The Mummy Returns (2001)

Question: Why is the CGI at the end (the Scorpion King, mainly) so poor in comparison to the rest of the film? The Anubis creatures, etc. are all great, but the appearance of the big bad guy looks noticeably less polished. Any specific reason, or is it just one of those things?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: Reportedly they simply ran out of time. Stephen Sommers, the director, was really quite embarrassed by it.

Tailkinker

2nd Apr 2004

Friends (1994)

The One With Rachel's Assistant - S7-E4

Question: At the start of the episode we see the end of Joey's appalling show, listing the executive producers as Colleen Mahan, Eric Goldberg, and Missy Krehbiel. Missy Krehbiel is assistant to David Crane, Friends writer/producer/creator, etc. Anyone know who the others are and what their link to the show is?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: Colleen Mahan and Eric Goldberg also work on the show they are assistants to Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane.

24th Mar 2004

Starsky & Hutch (2004)

Question: The song being sung when we first see the gala at the end was used to open a romantic comedy, but I can't for the life of me think which film it was - can anyone remember?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: It's from Adam Sandler's film - The Wedding Singer.

8th Mar 2004

Angel (1999)

Home - S4-E22

Question: Does the end of this episode get fully explained in series 5? Too long to wait until the DVDs. The only point of confusion for me is what happens to Connor - the idea that W&H can alter memories/history, etc. is fair enough, but then why does Angel cut his throat, or at least appear to?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: Angel does not kill Connor. He disables him then takes him to Wolfram & Hart, at which point they contact a demon who uses magic to create false memories for anyone who has met Connor, Connor himself, and Connor's new family. No alternate reality is created, it was just memory alteration.

4th Mar 2004

Angel (1999)

Long Day's Journey - S4-E9

Question: At the end of this episode "in loving memory of Glenn Quinn" is displayed - he played Doyle in early episodes of Angel, and died at the end of 2002. However, this was actually the second episode broadcast after his death - does anyone know why the credit was shown in this episode and not the one before?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: The epispode that aired the week before was titled 'Habeus Corpses' and had a theme of the dead coming back to life as zombies. So, putting a dedication afterwords would have been tacky.

MoonFaery

26th Feb 2004

Angel (1999)

Blind Date - S1-E21

Question: In this episode they're trying to decrypt some files, and Cordelia phones Willow. She hears that they've been trying to decrypt computer files all day too - does this correspond to a specific episode of Buffy?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: It corresponds to 'The Yoko Factor' (4-20), though Willow never mentions that Cordelia calls.

MoonFaery

Question: What's Ashley Judd's last line? I missed it in the cinema and when it was on TV the other day I remembered too late to turn on subtitles.

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: Her last line is "I wish you love".

18th Feb 2004

Friends (1994)

Show generally

Question: I've always wondered about this - how is the Friends set/studio laid out? It's fairly obvious that the two main apartments and corridor are one large set with the audience behind the camera (as is fairly standard), but what about Central Perk? Is that part of the same set with the audience...somewhere, or is that filmed elsewhere and shown to the audience separately?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: Monica's apartment is centre stage, with Joey's on the audience's left, separated by the hallway in between. Central Perk is on the right of Monica's, and stays up permanently because it features in every show. Ross' appartment is on the right of Monica's but alongside the audience. 1. Monica's room and the guest room formerly known as Rachel's room are not set up all the time because they are often used for filming from different angles. When they are set up it is often on a different part of the set. 2. The poster next to Monica's tv hides a camera hole for filming kitchen/door scenes. 3. The street outside Central Perk is also part of the set, not filmed outside. However I am unsure of where this is in relation to the set. 4. Monica's secret closet is actually a door to the backstage area, the shelves featuring in The One With The Secret Closet were a one time thing. These facts were correct at the end of series nine, details of the layout of the series 10 set are not yet available.

17th Feb 2004

Scream 2 (1997)

Question: There's a trivia entry already listed about where to find Matthew Lillard making a cameo, but I've heard that Rose McGowan (Tatum from Scream) is in the background in the opening sequence somewhere. Can anyone tell me exactly where?

Jon Sandys

Answer: Although that audience member does bear a vague resemblance to Rose McGowan, wouldn't she have had her blonde hair dyed back to her natural brunette look?

Alan Keddie

Chosen answer: Rose is the girl in a deep-green shirt with blonde hair. She looks slightly shocked. You see her near the left center of the audience scene, right after the 2nd shot of Jada climbing/crawling onto the stage.

13th Feb 2004

Angel (1999)

Chosen answer: It was most likely Joss Whedon messing with the audience. It was intended to make people believe he wasn't really dead and he was coming back somehow. Also, they didn't want to give away that Wesley was joining the cast, which is how it concludes.

14th Jan 2004

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

Question: After the car crash near the start, Riggs finds that the driver has disappeared, and says "This guy's Mandrake." What does that mean?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: 'Mandrake the Magician' was a comic strip that was popular (at least in Australia) in the 1970s. It featured the title character that was able to perform very elaborate magic tricks (including disappearing acts).

david barlow

14th Jan 2004

The Scorpion King (2002)

Question: In Roger Ebert's review, he says "...Mathayus intones, 'As long as one of us still breathes, the sorcerer will die.' See if you can spot the logical loophole." I can't - what's the problem with that line?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: By the way Mathayus is saying it, it sounds like he is saying as long as him or the sorcerer still breathes, either he or the sorcerer will die, but he is trying to say as long as one of the Akkadians are breathing, they will not stop trying to kill the sorcerer until he is dead.

T Poston

12th Jan 2004

Ed Wood (1994)

Chosen answer: According to Tim Burton in an interview at the time, they were "taking a little vacation from each other", - he also said that he was not sure what the situation between them was, which certainly implied a falling out. Danny Elfman is a bit more open, describing what happened as "a family feud" - he says that after working on six films together in ten years, they had a bit of a creative fallout, which led to Howard Shore doing the music for Ed Wood. Afterwards, according to Elfman, they realised that they missed working together and went back to collaborating happily.

Tailkinker

28th Dec 2003

Empire Records (1995)

Question: Does Renee Zelwegger sing her own part in the song at the end? If not, who does?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: Yes, she did all the singing for the film herself. She further demonstrates her singing abilities in the film 'Chicago'.

Padzter

12th Dec 2003

The West Wing (1999)

Bartlet's Third State of the Union - S2-E13

Question: The music heard as the theme tune to the political TV show ("Capital Beat") CJ appears on - is that heard in other US shows? Because here in Britain it's the music for the ITN "News at 10" (or was a while ago, at least). Just curious as to whether it's recognisable in the US.

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: As a frequent watcher of the show, I have never heard the tune and thought, "That sounds familiar," so I would guess that it is not a theme song to any other shows (political or otherwise) here in the States.

Macalou

9th Dec 2003

The West Wing (1999)

In Excelsis Deo - S1-E10

Question: This is as good a place to ask as any. In various US TV shows (including this one, and this episode), someone says "I could care less", when they always seem to mean "I couldn't care less", ie. they have no interest in what's going on. Surely if they COULD care less that means they actually care a reasonable amount? Is there any logic to this, or is it just a really annoying innate lack of sense?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: A really annoying innate lack of sense. My friends and family say the same thing all the time, and I'm endlessly trying to correct them. I think people just don't know any better and (ironically) couldn't care less that they're speaking incorrectly.

Answer: It's an endlessly annoying dropped negative, and it's been a common colloquialism for far too long. I believe it comes from an original (and now omitted and merely implied) "As if" preceding the statement. "As if I could care less." (Meaning "As if it were possible that I could care even less than I do.") But there's really no way to know.

20th Nov 2003

Friends (1994)

Chosen answer: Fred Sanford was one of two main characters of "Sanford & Son", a TV show from back in the 70s. He was a junk dealer. Those who are British might be interested to know that it was the American version of 'Steptoe and Son'.

Sereenie

20th Nov 2003

Family Guy (1999)

Death Has a Shadow - S1-E1

Question: In the courtroom, after everyone goes "Oh no.", what looks like a teapot bursts through the wall going "Oh yeah.". I'm assuming it's a US advert, but I've got no idea for what - can someone let me know?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: It's the Kool Aid mascot (Kool Aid being a fruit flavoured powdered drink mix - FILLED with sugar). It has been bursting walls (while screaming "Oh, yeah!") for years, bringing what's needed to quench children's thirst.

Sereenie

5th Nov 2003

Alias (2001)

Doppelganger - S1-E5

Question: When discussing the bomb plot, there's something odd with the audio. When Sloane's talking, at two points he says "UCO", but it's obviously been dubbed over - the shot's from behind but the tone is different. Arguably just post-production looping, but because the pitch is so noticeably different I'm assuming they mentioned some organisation they couldn't refer to, so changed it. Can't be the UN, as they mention that earlier in the scene. Anyone know why that was changed? (00:35:05)

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: It does sound overdubbed, but there was no change in the organization. UCO is United Commission Organization. There are signs when Patel is coming that say UCO so obviously it wasn't changed.

Question: I'm intrigued if anyone knows what the experiment was that Doc refers to at the start. He says "my experiment worked - all the clocks are exactly 25 minutes slow". The only thing I can think of is that Doc loaded them all into the time machine or something similar - is there any official answer, or is it just a random comment?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: It's just a random comment, and I suppose is also an early indicator that Doc Brown is performing experiments involving time. Whatever, it's certainly nothing that bears any relevance to the rest of the film.

Gaz

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