Question: I don't understand the conversation between Melanie and Bobby Ray. He said that his "little lady" is a women's softball coach in Nashville. Then, Melanie nods her head knowingly and says that it explains some lingering questions she had about a game of Post Office that they played. By his reaction to that, it seems like that somehow let her know that he was definitely gay. I don't understand. Can you help me connect the dots?
Bishop73
1st Dec 2024
Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
1st Dec 2024
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Question: What game are Mike and the others playing in the beginning when Elliot says that he's ready to play, and Greg says that he can't because they're in the middle of it?
Answer: They're playing a generic tabletop role-playing game (RPG). In the script, it says they're playing "Dungeons and Dragons," but in the movie, they said Steve is the "Game Master." If it was D&D, Steve would be called the "Dungeon Master."
17th Nov 2024
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
10th Nov 2024
Friends (1994)
The One With The Blind Dates - S9-E14
Question: What does Monica mean when she says she might have served some very questionable meat at the restaurant?
Answer: She's didn't realise what the date was and was a few days behind. So she's saying the meat may have been a few days past their expiration or use by date and gone bad, i.e. it's questionable if you should eat it because you might get sick.
6th Nov 2024
Wonderland (2003)
Question: What is the name of the band that plays during the credits after Gordon Lightfoot plays? It sounds like Manson but I can't find anything about it.
Answer: It's "Love on the Rocks," performed by Johnathan Davis, who's known for being the lead singer of KoЯn. It's his cover version of Neil Diamond's song.
22nd Mar 2004
Die Hard (1988)
Question: Can someone please explain the scene where McClane and Hans are alone near the roof. Hans says his name is "Bill Clay" and the camera zooms in on a board with the name Clay on it. What is the significance of this? Does this give Hans away? And if so how?
Answer: No, this doesn't give Hans away - the zoom represents McClane checking the board out - getting proof that there is indeed a person in the building with that name (listed as W. Clay, for William). Hans has obviously done his homework, but McClane doesn't trust him anyway, hence the trick with the empty gun.
Actually, it said "Wm. Clay", which is for William. W. Clay could have been for Wanda or Walter or Wesley or Waldo, etc.
It's most likely "WM" for William Mark Clay or similar - no reason William would have an extra letter tacked on but others wouldn't.
Wm is commonly the initials for "William", as opposed to W for "Will." On the board, it shows WM simply because they don't have/use any lower-case letters; they're all block letters.
Answer: John already knew what Hans looked like. He saw him through the vent on the top of the elevator (after sending Karl's brother down wearing the sweater) - He also saw Hans shoot Takagi (which is why he says "Just like you did with Takagi" after Hans says he's gonna count to three).
He never sees Hans' face in either scene. In fact, once the scene where they meet on the roof was added (midway through filming, once the director realised Alan Rickman could do a passable American accent), the scene where Hans shoots Takagi was reedited in such a way as to be clear that McClane never gets a good look at Hans' face, only hears his voice.
4th May 2018
Angels in the Outfield (1994)
Question: At the end of the movie George Knox adopts PJ, and Roger. Wouldn't George have had to meet with a social worker before adopting them?
Answer: Maybe he did offscreen?
I meant that as a yes or no question.
Then that answers the question. We also don't know WHEN he did it, so it's entirely possible that he visited with one. We also don't find out that he adopted both Roger and JP because it was supposed to be a surprise, meaning that we wouldn't find out until that moment.
It feels like the question was about the legal steps needed to take, not did he do them or not. Does an individual in his situation need to visit a social worker?
14th Aug 2024
Batman (1966)
Question: Why didn't Julie Newmar or Eartha Kitt reprise the role of Catwoman?
Answer: The timeline of the movie is important to consider. The 1966 film began production while season 1 of the TV series was being aired. Eartha Kitt didn't play Catwoman until season 3. According to the TV show "Biography", Newmar was suffering from a back injury and unable to reprise her role for the movie. But she was able to recover by the time they started shooting the 2nd season. So, for the movie they hired Meriweather.
Answer: Of the three actresses that portrayed Catwoman, Julie Newmar was the first in the TV series and Eartha Kitt assumed the role after Newmar became unavailable. Lee Meriwether played the character in the movie. All were "guest stars," not regular cast members, so their availability would constantly change as they did other TV shows, movies, plays, etc. Show creator William Dozier originally wanted to first film and release a feature-length Batman movie, using it like a pilot, to introduce the Batman character, then launch the TV show based on it. However, the studio, 20th Century Fox, wanted the TV series first, so the movie was delayed until after the successful first season. During the movie's filming timeframe, Newmar was unavailable (various reasons have been reported about why she did not reprise the role) and Meriwether was cast.
14th Aug 2024
Gilligan's Island (1964)
Big Man on a Little Stick - S1-E22
Question: What did Gilligan mean when he told the Professor that by building Duke up he'll be breaking him down?
5th Aug 2024
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Question: When Seymore is having the final confrontation with the plant, the plant sings, "You can keep the Thing. You can keep the It. You can keep the Creature, they don't mean shit!" I get that "the Thing" is a reference to the monster from "The Thing From Another World" and "the Creature" is a reference to Gillman from "The Creature From The Black Lagoon", but what is "the It" a reference to?
Answer: Most likely it is referring to It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) or possibly It Came from Outer Space (1953).
Answer: I'm assuming that "it" is simply a vague reference to non-human creatures. (It most likely wouldn't be a reference to "It" by Stephen King, as "It" came out after the song was written.)
Answer: He was speaking in general. It being used as a subject, direct object, or indirect object of a verb, or object of a preposition, usually in reference to a lifeless thing.
Answer: Seems like "It" is the titular creature from Stephen King's novel "It." It was a shapeshifter, but mainly took the form of Pennywise the Clown. The novel was released 3 months prior to this film's release.
18th Jul 2024
Gilligan's Island (1964)
Love Me, Love My Skipper - S2-E20
Question: I never understood the "Monkey Wrench" part of this episode. Skipper deliberately puts a monkey wrench in his pocket, then asks Gilligan if he has seen it. In a different scene, Gilligan sees the wrench in Skipper's pocket and tells him he notices he found it. I never understand the relevance of this whole part in relation to the actual storyline (Skipper thinking he was not invited to the Howells' cotillion). What was the idea here?
Answer: He hid the monkey wrench and acted like he misplaced it, as an excuse to visit the other people on the island to see if they got an invitation to the party too.
18th Jul 2024
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Question: How does the fact that Biff is wealthy in the alternate 1985 have such a dystopian effect on Hill Valley, turning it into Snake Plisken's L.A.? Someone's wealth would probably not have effects on crime rates, murder, schools burning down six years prior, etc.
Answer: Biff is so wealthy that he is basically an oligarch, ruling Hill Valley. As he puts it, he "owns the police," so he is above the law. He puts all his resources into his own life, neglecting the rest of Hill Valley. Without these resources, all of the services (police, health, education, social services, fire, etc.) are non-existent outside Biff's tower. Therefore, it sinks into poverty, lawlessness, and despair.
Answer: While I don't think Biff's motivations are explained in the film (but maybe they are in other canonical material), it seems to center on the casino that Biff opened and the type of people it attracted. Biff also tells Marty he owns the police, which would indicate Biff was also engaged in illegal activities, for example prostitution or drug sales, and there was police corruption. This also seems to have increased gang activities (which Biff may have been involved in as well) that led to more violence and crimes like arson at the school.
2nd Jan 2004
X-Men 2 (2003)
Question: Who is the kid in the mansion changing the channels by blinking? I recognized most of the "background" mutants (Siren, Jubilee, Artie, etc.) but this one's eluding me.
Chosen answer: In the comic book there was a mutant with the same powers called 'Blink' but blink was a girl, so i guess they just gave the kid some random ability from the comics.
Blink in the comics had entirely different powers.
Answer: In the film, he is named "Jones", played by Connor Widdows. There is no comic book character he represents and was made up for the movie. Jones also appears in "X-Men: The Last Stand" where he is asked to turn on the TV when in class.
9th Jun 2024
The Omen (1976)
Question: After the priest is impaled during the killer storm, the autopsy reveals he had the 666 birthmark on his thigh – what does this mean? Was he a child of the Devil too? Did he spend his life fighting against this knowledge and that's why he had his bedroom covered in Bible pages? Any explanation is welcome.
Answer: The priest you're talking about is Father Brennan. After he became a priest, he would meet Father Spiletto and become a Satanist. Basically once Satan accepted him, Brennan developed the 666 mark. He was present when Damien was born. It was only later in life when he was suffering severely with health issues that he decided to warn the Thorns about who Damien really was in hopes Christ would forgive him. At that point, he was afraid evil spirits would get him, which is why he covered his walls and windows in Bible pages.
Thank you! It has always bugged me.
9th Jun 2024
House, M.D. (2004)
Question: I'm very confused about something and please correct me if I'm wrong. Vincent and Charlotte both got herpes because he was on a toilet seat. After Charlotte found out how she got herpes, why did she take her ring off, put it on Cuddy's desk, and then leave the room? Clearly, Vincent was also shocked to find out how he got it and he probably never meant for it to happen.
Answer: Getting herpes from a public toilet seat is practically impossible. House made up the idea that's how one of them got it, and even Cuddy tries to correct him. Vincent thought the idea was plausible but Charlotte thought the idea was ridiculous. So House concluded that the husband cheated on his wife and got herpes from another woman and then gave it to his wife. Vincent was happy with the idea that he got it from a toilet seat because it "gave him an out", meaning an excuse to use instead of admitting the truth that he cheated.
9th Jun 2024
General questions
When an actor wants to leave a show or is fired, why is the character killed off instead of having them do something else? In House M.D, Kal Penn wanted to leave the show, so his character was written as having committed suicide. Wouldn't it have been better to have his character leave the show by either having him take a job somewhere else or having him get fired instead of him killing himself? In Roseanne, her character overdosed. Why not have her character divorce Dan instead?
Answer: Often times it's done for dramatic purposes, even if the actor leaves on good terms. Writing an episode where a character dies is much more jarring to the audience and something they may talk about the next day. Plus, actors that suddenly leave the show, don't return the next season, or die in real life, aren't there to say goodbye to friends, family, or colleagues before taking another job, going off to college, or getting fired. Which is what normally happens in real life, so it would come across as unrealistic. But there's plenty of shows/characters where an actor is knowingly leaving the show, so writers do have time to write a farewell type episode in. Also, by killing off characters, the audience doesn't have an expectation for their return and writers don't have to think about them. Of course, the alternative is recasting the character and then just dealing with the backlash or criticism of such a cheap move.
It does seem like recasting is rarely done, and the audience usually doesn't like the replacement.
There's a number of cast replacements in TV shows, but often it's minor characters. More prominent ones include Dick Sargent replacing Dick York as Darrin in "Bewitched," and Sarah Chalke taking over Lecy Goranson's role as Becky in "Roseanne." Neither replacement actor was warmly received by viewers.
9th Jun 2024
General questions
There's a movie with Peter Billingsley. In the movie, his uncle is a spy. While on a mission, Peter asks the uncle if he can stay up past eleven o'clock. What movie is this?
Answer: I don't know about the quote, but there is a made-for-TV movie called "Massarati and the Brain" (1982). Billingsley plays the Brain and lives with his uncle, who is a secret agent.
9th Jun 2024
Charlie's Angels (1976)
Question: What's the caliber of those small snub-nosed guns the Angels used throughout the show?
Answer: There seems to have been two different revolvers used, but both shot .38 specials.
19th May 2024
General questions
Why do some actors "mouth" other actors' lines? This site has a few entries about actors doing this.
Answer: I've tried to catch this and don't think I've seen it, even when others list it as a mistake. However, I'd imagine this is more for television, especially when filmed in front of a live audience, where they're trying to get the shot in one take. When you're acting, it's not enough to just know your lines; you have to know your "cues", which are often the last line of the character speaking before it's your turn. So some actors are repeating the lines leading up to their lines in their head and may just subconsciously mouth the words (in the same vein some people mouth the words of the book they're silently reading). This is also why some actors don't like when their co-stars ad-lib their lines because it takes away their cues.
Answer: Agree with the other answer that this happens less frequently than claimed. TV and movie scenes are filmed multiple times even when there's a live audience to get the best result. The director and other techs on the set watch for behaviors like this and would correct the actor. Also, during post-production, experienced editors would notice it and use another version. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen and that some slip by the director or editor, but probably not often.
4th May 2024
The Fly (1986)
Question: When Seth teleports a plate with a piece of steak on it, why doesn't the steak merge with the plate?
Answer: Short answer, because the plate doesn't have DNA. Initially the pod was making synthetic versions of what was being teleported, which is why it turned the baboon inside out and made the steak taste funny but inanimate objects appeared OK. It was only later, after reprogramming, that the pods could basically identify tissue to teleport living organisms. However, with the fly present, the pod's programming couldn't distinguish there were two separate living organisms and ended up combining them. It didn't happen with the plate because the pod recognized it as a separate object.
Answer: Something non-biological can't merge with something biological.
Except that later on, a portion of the telepod merges with the Brundlefly.
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Answer: To start, he never said "his little lady." After Melanie hugs Bobby Ray in public and sees people watching, she says she doesn't want to get him in trouble with his girlfriend and then asks if he has a girlfriend. His response is basically that no, he doesn't have a girlfriend. Then she asks about the girl he had dated (but is no longer dating) and she was a softball coach. The implication being she is a lesbian because of the stereotype associated with women softball players. Her being a lesbian during a game of "post office" explained the questions Melanie had about the girl, not about Bobby Ray.
Bishop73