Question: How old are Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry when they begin their journey? I especially want to know how old Frodo is.
jle
26th Dec 2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
21st Dec 2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Question: Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry are all hobbits from the Shire, yet they all have different accents. Why is this?
Answer: Obviously it is because the actors are from different places. But you can explain it away by saying that the hobbits are from different families. From Bilbo's speech at his party it is clear that the Hobbits are split into a small number of large extended families - the Bagginses (Frodo, obviously), Tooks (Pippen), Brandybucks (Merry) etc. The families differ in obvious ways - the Tooks are large, the Bagginses are eccentric, the Proudfoots have large feet. Perhaps accent is another family trait?
19th Dec 2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Question: I haven't read the books so I don't know if this is in them, but why did Frodo leave at the end?
Answer: For pretty much the same reason as he says in his final speech of the film "I have been deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them". Also, he misses the Ring, and is sick and depressed once every year with longing for it. He feels his experiences have set him aside with the rest of the world, the Shire in particular, since no one understands what he went through.
18th Dec 2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Question: What happens to Saruman? I know that he is in his tower, but we never really finds out what happens to him. We also know that the burning of the shire scenes are not in the film, so we don't see him get killed. Is this one for the Extended DVD?
Chosen answer: The extended edition may have Peter Jackson's version of what happened to Saruman but it won't have the book's version. In the book, Sarauman is defeated by Gandalf and expelled from Isengard and goes to the Shire where he takes command and enslaves the hobbits. Merry, Pippin and Sam return to the Shire and organise a rebellion. Saruman leaves, thoroughly defeated, and is killed by Grima Wormtongue. None of this was filmed for the movie. In the extended version of the movie Saruman stands on the top of the tower and has an argument with both King Theoden and Gandalf when Grima Wormtongue appears and is realizing he had been in the wrong with a few encouraging words from the group below. Saruman then belittles Grima Wormtongue hitting him to the ground. Enraged Grima Wormtongue then stabs Saruman in the back several times causing Saruman to fall and lands torso first onto a spike on a water wheel that is still continuing to turn with all the extra water from the dam burst. This is why the Ent, Treebeard, says "the filth of Saruman is washing away" also the Palantir falls out of his robes and that's why Pip finds it in the water.
15th Dec 2003
The Young Ones (1982)
15th Dec 2003
The Young Ones (1982)
Question: What is the name of the band playing in the pub? They sing 'Welcome to the House of Fun' and seem very familiar to me, but I can't figure out how.
Answer: Madness.
Answer: Madness also appeared in the episode "Sick", where they performed their song "Our House", which was their biggest (and only major) hit in the US.
8th Dec 2003
Friends (1994)
The One With The Girl From Poughkeepsie - S4-E10
Question: What does Chandler mean when he says "they're signing over their 401k's to me" and also when he asks Rachel "you graduated (something), right?"
Answer: A 401K is a pension plan. Graduating 'magna cum laude' means you were at the top of your class.
8th Dec 2003
Scream (1996)
Question: I've just rented the Director's Cut and I'm wondering what differs from the original. I've seen the original so many times I almost know it by heart and I couldn't find anything different in the DC.
Answer: According to the IMDB, "This was supposed to be the director's cut with additional 20 seconds of footage. But due to company policy (which does not allow to release unrated DVDs), the same cut as on the 1997 DVD was put onto this DVD. The director's cut was available on laserdisc."
8th Dec 2003
28 Days Later (2002)
Question: The box for the Region 1 DVD of this movie says that there are 3 alternate endings on the DVD, but I've only seen two listed (one showing Jim dying in the hospital, the other being an almost identical version of the original ending, but with Jim cut out). Does anyone know where the last alt. ending is located on the disc?
Answer: Special Features -> Alternate Endings then at the bottom of the page is a arrow pointing right. Select this and you get the option "Radical Alternative Ending". It is worth seeing since it is much more than an ending. It is a completely new film starting at the point they reach the roadblock in Manchester. It is presented in storyboard format.
8th Dec 2003
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Question: Can somebody please explain to me everything that happened in Mulholland Drive? What is up with the bum behind the diner, the little people chasing Naomi Watts at the end, who is who, what is the key for? Ideally give a website reference which has a full answer, as a full answer will dominate this page.
Answer: There is no one right answer. See http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,4120,634856,00.html for some theories from movie critics.
Answer: Naomi Watts killed her lover, Laura Harring, rather than lose her to someone else. She felt such guilt, she created an alternate reality using everything and everyone she knew, to create a happy and peaceful world. But the real world was sneaking in and the key was to unlock her blocked memories.
8th Dec 2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Question: When Aragon and the others were a day's journey behind the Uruk-hai in the canyon, and one of the Uruk-hai was able to smell "man-flesh", so how is it that the Riders of Rohan were able to sneak up on the Uruk-hai while they are camped by the forest and the Uruk-hai not smell them?
Answer: We don't know that they didn't smell them. We just know that the riders found the camp and that there was a fight. If you read the books, it says that they knew the riders were coming, but there was no way they could outrun them on the plain; they headed for Fangorn Forest, hoping they wouldn't follow, but the riders caught up with them just outside of it. Obviously, some things are skipped in the movie, so it's a little less fluid. Check out The Two Towers, ch. The Uruk-Hai, about 1/2 way into the chapter.
8th Dec 2003
South Park (1997)
Question: Does somebody know why there is an airplane of Braniff Airlines with the mention "Believe it" in the end credits?
Chosen answer: See http://www.spscriptorium.com/SPinfo/SPStudiosFAQ3.htm.
1st Dec 2003
Feeling Minnesota (1996)
Question: What ever happens to the red car that Jjaks buys from the used car lot? He gets pulled over by the cop, and we never see the car again. Why wouldn't he go back to get the car to go to Las Vegas, instead of getting a ride from the bible salesman? After all, he bought it with cash, it's not like it was stolen or anything.
Chosen answer: Yes, it does just vanish. It is understandable that we don't see it for the 2 remaining days of the main plot of the film. The car is impounded somewhere and Jjaks has a lot more to worry about than where the car is. He also has no money during those three days. A couple of possible explanations, excuses really : (1) the car was impounded by a private company, not the police, and Jjaks can't afford to get it back. (2) He did get it back. The Las Vegas scene happens 'several months later' and in that time Jjaks lost or sold the car.
4th Dec 2003
Earthquake (1974)
Question: Each time this movie is shown on in Brisbane Australia an important scene is not shown. The deletion is of the airplane landing at the airport and then trying to get air-borne again before the runway is destroyed. Why is this removed?
Answer: There are two versions of the film. A 'film' version which does not include this scene (and others) and a 'TV Miniseries' version. The miniseries version was made to run over two nights and extra scenes were shot to extend the running time.
4th Dec 2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Question: I was watching The Two Towers on DVD the other day and I am sure that I saw John Rhys Davies as one of the villagers that are helping to defend Helm's Deep. Is this true? It's not the spear-throwing Peter Jackson cameo - this character lifts a rock (or something) above his head and lets out a very John-like roar. Blink and you'll miss it.
Chosen answer: At what time? Peter Jackson's cameo (spear) is at 1:10:07 and producer Barry Osborne's (rock) is at 1:10:17. I couldn't spot another 'lift something over head and shout' shot.
2nd Dec 2003
Copycat (1995)
Question: Who is Conrad? Harry Conick, Jr.'s character writes him a letter at the end, and there is a Conrad character listed in the credits, but I haven't been able to find him.
Answer: I thought that it was Peter Kurten (Foley) that broke in and left the book. However if it was Conrad, then he does not appear in the flesh in the film.
You are correct. I just rewatched this tonight on Tubi.
Answer: Conrad is the man that breaks into Helen's flat and leaves the book. Happens just over 1 hour into the film.
Answer: I don't think Conrad appears in the film. Earlier in the movie HC Jr says he has other "disciples"; Conrad seems to be the new recruit to replace the just-killed McNamara character.
2nd Dec 2003
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Question: I can not figure out how in the world agent Starling makes the connection about where Buffalo Bill lives. I don't understand the connection she makes at the house where she finds the pictures and says "you covet what you see" It has driven me crazy for years and I need help. How does she figure it all out?
Answer: In Frederika's bedroom Clarice sees the dress being made and recognises that the pieces of material are the same shape as the pieces of skin missing from the victims' bodies. In the bank, where Clarice meets Frederika's friend, Stacy tells her the address of 'Mrs Lippman' whom Frederika used to work with. Presumably Buffalo Bill is related to, or is, Mrs. Lippman since that is where Clarice finds him.
He's not Mrs Lippman. He did, however, kill her. As Clarice chases him through the cellar, the woman's decomposing body is in a tub.
Answer: "You covet what you see": Agent Starling looks out the window of the girl's house to see who the neighbors are, who may have been watching the girl.
29th Nov 2003
Dark Star (1974)
Question: Not many people have even seen this classic, but i'll give it a go. On the DVD, when the crew are in the food store/bedroom, you can see that there are several pin-ups of girls on the wall behind them which have been blurred out. I can't see why the censors would be so fastitious about something which is hard to notice, let alone offend anyone - does anyone have any idea why they might do such a thing?
Answer: It was done to get the film a 'G' / 'U' rating.
29th Nov 2003
The Untouchables (1987)
Question: What is the name of the song that the clown is singing when Sean Connery has just been shot?
Answer: 'Vesti La Giubba', an aria from the opera 'I Pagliacci'.
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Answer: Frodo was 50, Sam was 38, Merry was 36 and Pippin was 28.
jle