Question: I've always wondered if Mark, just before his final broadcast, told his parents the whole truth. It would seem that way because Mark tells his girlfriend his mom let him use the Jeep ("She kinda loaned it to me"). Also, his Dad was at the gathering in the school's athletic field, but there is no shot of him acting surprised or horrified when Mark pulls in to where the crowd is and gets arrested. So the question is: did Mark fess up to his parents? Or is it irrelevant/left for us to wonder?
Tailkinker
15th Mar 2005
Pump up the Volume (1990)
11th Apr 2005
Underworld (2003)
Question: I watched the original version and have recently watched the director's cut. Unless I'm missing something, I couldn't notice any difference between the two. Was the difference really that subtle, or was the director's cut no different from the theatrical release? And if so, why label it the director's cut?
Answer: The extended version that I've seen is twelve minutes longer than the original and contains a number of alternate versions of already existing scenes. However, there are no particularly significant or long scenes added - it's more just the occasional character moment here and there that boosts the length, so, if it's been a while since you've actually seen the original, I can easily see how you might not have registered many of the additions - I had a certain difficulty working out which bits were new myself.
14th Apr 2005
To Live and Die in LA (1985)
Question: What is it with Rick Masters and shooting people in the face? I counted three deaths that way.
Chosen answer: If you want to be reasonably certain of an instant kill, headshots are the way to go.
Answer: Rick can only be implicated in shooting one person in the face, and that is not seen. His henchman shoots two people in the face.
31st Mar 2005
The Incredibles (2004)
Question: In the big family fight scene at Nomanisan Island, I never understood what Violet was doing with the force field. Could someone explain?
Answer: In that fight scene, two of the enemy blade-fliers are approaching from one side - Violet has set up her forcefield in their path to stop their cannon fire, buying time for her parents to deal with the other fliers first, before turning their attention to the ones that Violet is blocking, rather than having to focus on all the fliers at one time.
1st Apr 2005
Angel (1999)
Question: As the series was cancelled towards the end of filming, with only a few episodes left to do, does anyone know what changes were made, either to tie up loose ends, make the show go out with a bang, or similar?
Chosen answer: Hardly any. As Joss Whedon had to fight fairly hard just to get a season five at all, he was aware from the start that cancellation was quite possible. As such, he designed the season as if it was the last one, but with the possibility of using it for a launchpad for a season six, should they have been given one. The only likely alteration was that, had they received a sixth season, the death of a major character in the final episode would probably not have occurred, or at least his fate would have been left ambiguous, to allow the character to return.
1st Apr 2005
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Question: Did Frodo ever tell Gandalf and the others that it was really Gollum who (accidentally) destroyed the Ring?
Answer: He certainly would have told Gandalf about it. Whether he told the other members of the Fellowship is unclear, but the book details a meeting between them where they discuss their various adventures - it seems highly likely that he would have told them then, or allowed Sam to tell the tale for them both. Certainly his love for his compatriots would mean that he wouldn't lie to them about what happened.
1st Apr 2005
Angel (1999)
Question: In the previous 4 series, Angel's had no sexual contact (once when someone else possessed his body, but that's different). In this series, he has a drunken/mystical encounter with Eve one night, and later he and Nina start to go out, and definitely have sex at least once. I realise his curse applies to perfect happiness rather than just sex, but is there any reason he started getting some in this series, whereas he pretty much swore off it completely in the previous ones?
Chosen answer: Previously Angel has had somebody around who had a very serious level of feeling for - Buffy originally and then Cordelia - and it was having sex with those that unleashed Angelus (even if it was only a hallucination in the case of Cordelia). With everything else going right, it was enough to disrupt the curse. In season 5, Angel's stuck in a position that he's really unhappy with (the whole Wolfram & Hart thing); all is not perfect in his world. He's dating Nina, but doesn't appear to have the same level of feeling for her as his previous love interests - combine that with his concerns about his situation, and he's intelligent enough to realise that he's not going to be perfectly happy any time soon, even if he does enter into a physical relationship. With Eve, the situation was even simpler - he doesn't trust her in the slightest, plus he's under a mystical imperative anyway. No chance of attaining perfect happiness under those conditions.
31st Mar 2005
The Incredibles (2004)
Question: What exactly is Bob's job at the start of the film? I know it's something about insurance.
Answer: Bob works in the claims department, dealing with clients who are making a claim on their insurance policy, deciding whether their claims are valid and paying out (or not) accordingly.
31st Mar 2005
Alien Vs. Predator (2004)
Question: It has been shown that the alien takes on part of the host traits as it matures on the inside the host body. It becomes a cross breed, EVERY TIME. So unless it has been breading with the same host (humans) over eons how can this race survive and reproduce? Over just a few generations it would have evolved so far in so many direction it would fail to exist as a alien.
Answer: Well, the alien warriors don't breed, so any traits that they might take on are irrelevent. The Queens are the key - one plausible explanation is that the Queens don't take on the host traits, or that they only take on those traits that are useful to them - they get incorporated into the species, improving them while still conforming to the basic alien structure. Also possible is that the Queens do take on some traits from their host, but that their reproductive system is isolated from this - i.e. the eggs produced are the same no matter what additional traits the Queen producing them might have. This would allow each newly hatched alien to take on traits relevent to its environment, without hampering the overall progress of the species.
31st Mar 2005
Wayne's World (1992)
Question: Can anyone explain to me the scene in which Wayne is pulled over by a cop and shown a picture? I know it's supposed to be funny, but I don't get the joke.
Answer: You presumably haven't seen Terminator 2. The actor playing the cop is Robert Patrick, who played the shape-shifting T-1000 in that movie, who masqueraded as a policeman for most of the film. The T-1000's mission was to track down and terminate a boy - hence the "have you seen this boy" line that he says to Wayne.
31st Mar 2005
The Incredibles (2004)
Question: Is Vowellet - An Essay By Sarah Vowell on the UK DVD? On Disc One, on the index, it is listed in the Disc Two section but I can't find it anywhere on Disc Two.
Answer: No, despite its appearance on the Disc 1 index, it appears to be missing from the second disc. On the Region 1 DVDs, it appears as a menu item in the "Behind The Scenes" section, but it's been taken out on the Region 2 discs. The most likely explanation is that, for some reason, they were unable to include it on the Region 2 discs, but simply forget to take it off the disc 1 index.
31st Mar 2005
X-Men (2000)
Question: Why do Wolverine's previously healed wounds open again after he 'lends' his power to Rouge to save her life, and why don't all the injuries he has sustained throughout his life open up again?
Answer: These are the wounds that he's sustained during his fight with Sabretooth - while his healing power has closed them up, they're not fully healed yet. As such, when the power goes to Rogue, they're able to open back up. Earlier wounds have had the time to completely heal, so they don't reappear.
15th Mar 2005
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Question: When Will is on the boat with Viola, he begins a speech "Love knows nothing of rank or riverbank." Is this from one of Shakespeare's actual plays, or was it just written for the movie?
Answer: It was just written for the movie.
15th Mar 2005
I, Robot (2004)
Question: What was the relationship between Dr. Lanning and Dr. Calvin?
Answer: Mentor and protege.
15th Mar 2005
General questions
I've always wondered this, but in the credits of a movie they have the director of photography's name with A.S.C. next to it. And I'm not sure but I think the editor has A.C.E. next to it. What do these mean?
Answer: The A.S.C. is the American Society of Cinematographers. A.C.E. stands for American Cinema Editors. Both of these are organisations dealing with the respective professions - education, quality and so on.
7th Mar 2005
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Question: Can anyone tell me what exactly a kneazle is? I know Crookshanks is part kneazle, as stated in Corrections, but I don't know what that means.
Answer: To summarise their entry in "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them", a companion book written for charity by J K Rowling (under the pseudonym of "Newt Scamander", a Kneazle is a small cat-like creature which is intelligent, independent and occasionally aggressive which, should it take a liking to a witch or wizard, makes an excellent pet. They have an uncanny ability to detect unsavoury or suspicious characters and can be relied upon to guide their owner safely home if lost.
Question: When Luke is about to take off in his X-Wing while training on Dagobah to save Leia and Han, Obi-Wan says "That boy was our only hope," but Yoda says "No. There is another." Who is this "other" Yoda is talking about?
Answer: As we find out in Return of the Jedi, Luke's twin sister, Leia.
7th Mar 2005
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969)
Oh, You're No Fun Anymore - S1-E7
Question: In this episode, the first man to be changed into a Scotsman is named Harold Potter. Is this an inspiration for the name of Harry Potter?
Answer: No, it's just coincidence. J K Rowling took the surname from Ian Potter, a childhood friend, and she simply picked a first name that she liked.
7th Mar 2005
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Question: Does 1138 appear at all in this movie? I don't remember seeing it.
Answer: At the end of the film, after Anakin destroys the control ship and all the wardroids shut down, it can be seen written on the back of one of the droids that were guarding Jar-Jar and Captain Tarpals.
7th Mar 2005
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
Question: Is there a reason why all planets (except earth) have a number attached to their names? Or is that never explained?
Chosen answer: Planets that don't actually have a specific name tend to be referred to by the name of the star which they orbit and a number indicating how far out they are - so the planet Tau Ceti IV would be the fourth planet out from the star Tau Ceti. Under this system, our planet could be referred to as Sol III, but as it has a given name, that is used instead.
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Chosen answer: Well, with no actual scene where he confesses, it's left up to us to wonder. Personally, I find it unlikely that he'd actually admit the whole thing to his parents, but they're not stupid and already had their suspicions, so the lack of any great surprise on his father's part isn't unreasonable. You also have to remember that Mark's voice changer had already broken before they drove down to the crowd - his father would have easily recognised his voice before his actual arrival, giving him a certain amount of time to get through the initial shock.
Tailkinker ★