Trivia: A scene was made (but not included in the final film) where young Greedo and Anakin get into a fight after the pod race (Greedo accuses Anakin of cheating). Greedo is warned that with that kind of behavior, he could get himself into trouble in the future. And of course, in Episode IV, he's blasted to pieces by Han Solo.
Matty Blast
24th May 2004
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
24th May 2004
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Audio problem: When the Viceory and his assistant talk, most of the time their mouths don't match their words.
24th May 2004
Miracle (2004)
Question: Three guys made up the offensive line that was affectionately nicknamed the "Coneheads" after the classic Saturday Night Live skits from the late 70s. What specifically caused them to earn this nickname? What's the connection between those three guys and the Coneheads from Saturday Night Live? The assistant coach starts to give an explanation, but doesn't elaborate enough to offer a clear answer.
24th May 2004
Lean on Me (1989)
Question: At the very beginning of the movie, Joe Clark is enraged when he finds out that there is a meeting going on without him. What exactly is the subject of this meeting (other than the obvious dismissal of Mr. Clark)? Why is Mr. Clark accusing them of "selling out," and what do the people in the meeting refer to when they say, "You want to be posturing, etc., but we just want to work."?
Chosen answer: They are discussing some of the things that Mr. Clark has done that has "embarassed" the school. They are debating what to do about him. And by "posturing," they mean his insistance on wearing African dress and espousing his political beliefs.
24th May 2004
Minority Report (2002)
Continuity mistake: During the Howard Marks previsions, Anderton notices that the two images of the kid and the man show the kid on different sides. At first, he rotates his hand counter-clockwise (from his point-of-view) to see the image where the kid is on his right, and clockwise to the one where the kid is on the left. The camera cuts away, then cuts back; now the opposite is true (clockwise = kid is on the right, counter-clockwise = kid on left).
23rd May 2004
Miracle (2004)
Trivia: If you listen very carefully to the part where Al MIchaels says, "Do you believe in miracles? YES...", you'll notice that it's from the original broadcast of the game in 1980. All other play-by-play was re-done by Michaels as the movie was produced. The reason they used the original 1980 broadcast for just that specific moment is that Michaels had a difficult time recreating the emotion and excitement he felt when shouting it as it really happened.
16th May 2004
Man on the Moon (1999)
Factual error: Although tall glasses of milk look better, the milk that was given to the audience members of the Carnegie Hall performance came in 1/2-pint paper cartons.
14th May 2004
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Question: I've always been a little confused by Luke's "failure in the cave." What exactly should Luke have done to actually pass this test? And why did his face appear inside the mask of the image of Darth Vader?
Chosen answer: Luke failed the test before he even entered the cave - Yoda tells him to leave his weapons behind, but Luke takes them anyway. Seeing his face within Vader's mask is a warning that, if he embraces the path of violence (as he has by taking his weapons into the cave with him) then he could end up falling to the Dark Side as Vader did.
13th May 2004
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Trivia: The reason there are four pillars at the Genosian arena is that Lucas was thinking of having R2 tied up as well. He later changed his mind.
10th May 2004
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Question: Every time I see Dex's Diner, I'm reminded of "Mickey's Dining Car" in downtown Minneapolis (there's a brief shot of it in The Mighty Ducks). Is it just a coincidence that they look so similar, or is there more to it?
Chosen answer: Dex's Diner was largely based on the diner seen in Lucas' 1973 film, American Graffiti. As that was a fairly typical diner, it's not surprising that other diners around the US bear a considerable resemblance to it as well.
7th May 2004
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Question: Why do Anakin and Qui-gon have to cover up the fact that it's Anakin's pod they want him to race? Anakin says, "You could make them think it's yours" (or something like that), and Qui-gon later says that he acquired the pod in a game of chance. Why the deception? What does Watto care, who built the pod?
Chosen answer: As a slave, Anakin is not allowed any possessions of his own. Anything the Skywalkers have, ultimately belongs to Watto, so if Watto discovered Anakin had a pod, he would claim it for himself and maybe have someone else race it. The Jedi, of course, needed Anakin to race, since he was the best pod pilot around (and to test his Jedi capablities).
29th Apr 2004
Cool Runnings (1993)
Question: When the Jamaican bobsled team returned to the next Olympics, did they have the same members as before?
Chosen answer: Yes.
29th Apr 2004
Cool Runnings (1993)
Question: If only three of the guys are sprinters, and Sanka Coffee is not, how can Sanka keep up with the others when they're doing their push-starts?
Chosen answer: They are sprinters and so can run very fast on dry land whilst not pushing a huge metal bobsled. They can pushstart faster than most teams but nowhere near sprinter speeds. Sanka is used to pushstarts like this from his pushcart races and so is able to keep up over the short starts. Also, he is routinely shown struggling to keep up with the other three in all around training.
28th Apr 2004
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Question: While Robin Williams is packing his things in his small room, he waves down out the window at whom I believe is the Latin teacher, walking along a snowy sidewalk. What is the teacher doing, exactly? It appears that he's giving a guided tour of the campus, but he's also muttering Latin words. It can't be a classroom exercise because there are only 4 or 5 people with him. Does anyone know what he's doing?
Chosen answer: It is a classroom exercise. He is being followed by pupils and is reinforcing their latin vocabulary by taking them on a tour of the garden and showing them the things that the words actually relate to (edificium = building, flora = flower etc.) This contrasts with his earlier behaviour when he simply had them mindlessly recite conjugations (amamo, amamas, amabat). The point is that this illustrates how the Latin Master has been affected by his contact with Keating and has become a better teacher as a result.
Answer: I thought it was a punishment for the pupils involved in the scandal.
27th Apr 2004
Star Wars (1977)
20th Apr 2004
Titanic (1997)
Question: Why were many of the lifeboats intentionally lowered down to the water without being filled to capacity?
Chosen answer: This is what really happened - it was at first feared that the davits used to lower the boats would buckle under the weight, or that the boats themselves would break in the middle, and so many of the ones lowered first were not filled to capacity - one of them, with space for forty, had just twelve people on board. Later, as it was realised that there was not nearly enough life-boat space for all the passengers and crew, boats were filled to capacity, or even over-filled (one boat carried seventy).
20th Apr 2004
Miracle (2004)
Question: I'm curious to know how people in Russia, the Ukraine, and other parts of the former Soviet Union feel about this movie. Do they detest it, love it, like it... do they think any part of it is an exaggeration? Where could I go to see their opinions on Miracle?
Chosen answer: My name is Anastasiya and I am from Moscow, Russia. I am married to an American and we visited his family in New York, America and saw the movie Miracle in the theatre. My opinion on the movie was very good. I thought it was a good movie and although their views on the Soviets weren't very good at parts, I think that was how it really went and I think it was true to the real story. Overall, I liked the movie, and it was not hurtful in any way to me at all, as a Russian. Sincerely, Anastasiya Yakovlev-Burke.
20th Apr 2004
Miracle (2004)
Trivia: At the very end of the movie, while the narrator is talking about the events that followed the victory over the Soviet Union, the captain of the US team is shown standing on the top platform on the ice during the medal ceremony. Suddenly he motions to his teammates to come up and join him on the platform, and they all crowd together and are just barely able to fit. In light of this emotional moment for team USA, it was decided that at all Olympic Hockey medal ceremonies going forward, instead of having platforms big enough for just the captain, they would have platforms long enough so that the whole team can stand on each one. It has been this way ever since.
19th Apr 2004
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Question: I've seen the full-screen version of the film several times on television now, and I'm wondering why the very last shot before the closing credits shows the wide-screen shot compressed into the full-screen viewing area (making everyone look tall and skinny). Is it because all five characters wouldn't be able to fit, or is it because the closing credits are about to be shown?
Chosen answer: It's probably the former. Pan and scan isn't possible in a static scene like that one, of course. Just another reason why "fullscreen" is misleading.
18th Apr 2004
Man on the Moon (1999)
Continuity mistake: When Lawler smacked Carrey off his chair in the David Letterman scene, the hit was so hard that it made Carrey's mouth bleed (you have to look very carefully). When he stands up and is shown close up again, the blood is gone. (Incidentally, the reason Lawler hit him so hard was that Carrey constantly stayed in character throughout filming, and taunted him relentlessly. Lawler decided he'd had enough.)
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Chosen answer: The "Coneheads" (John Harrington, Mark Pavelich and Buzz Schneider) all were from the same area in Minnesota. Naturally, they gravitated together and would often be found working on plays around orange pylon cones at the end of the rink - hence the "Coneheads" nickname.