Question: How in the world did Hikaru Sulu, whom under all circumstances is Japanese, end up with that last name? Even in the novelization of the Star Trek IV, he meets his great (great.) grandfather named Akira Sulu. (Question is aimed more for a production explanation than a story-based one.)
Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
These are questions relating to specific titles. General questions for movies and TV shows are here. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.
Question: Faramir and the Rangers captured Frodo, Sam, and Gollum in Ithilien. They marched overland to the outskirts of Osgiliath."Osgiliath burns." There they were freed by Faramir after the Nazgul attack. But when Faramir spoke with Gandalf and Pippen in Minas Tirith, he said he saw Frodo and Sam in Ithilien not two days hence. Weren't they just in Osgiliath?
Chosen answer: Yes, but as Osgiliath is on the border to Ithilien and Frodo & co. went in that direction, it would be natural for Faramir to give that answer to Gandalf when Gandalf wanted to know where they were. Faramir also knew that it would take them more than two days to cross Ithilien, so that is where they would be at the time he spoke to Gandalf.
Question: Is there going to be a sequel to this movie? I checked IMDB and didn't find anything, I'm just trying to get more confirmation.
Chosen answer: George A Romero the director of the film has mentioned he would like to do a sequel, sort of a part 2 to the first, here is a link where you can read it for yourself. http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=7807.
Question: When Obi-Wan is on Kamino, he reports to Yoda and Mace-Windu that Sifo-Dyas ordered the clones ten years ago. When he says he thought Sifo-Dyas died before that, Yoda and Mace-Windu give each other a puzzling look. Why does Obi-Wan think he died before this?
Chosen answer: Either because Sifo-Dyas DID die before this, and another party was simply using him as a cover in order to create the clone army, or else because he turned to the dark side (which the older masters know), but most Jedis were just told he died.
Question: Why was the film banned in Malaysia?
Answer: Malaysia imposes strict morality codes for films, books, etc. and J.M. Barry's suspected homosexuality and pedophilia, although not portrayed in the movie, may have been deemed too controversial and offensive a topic for their culture.
Question: What is the conversation between the German soldiers in the Ghetto scene, after they have shot the boy who ran away and the boy's father who interfered?
Answer: Roughly "What is this shit? Did you become moved? You could have shot me. You have shot at me before. An apology is called for. You became moved."
Question: Did John Swartzwelder quit the show? He didn't write any episodes for this season.
Answer: He took a year's break from the show. He's promised to return for Season 17.
Question: In the scene where the circus man comes to the farm to find Rocky, Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy come out looking for him. Ginger then runs with Rocky all the way to the other side of the farm and into their own hut. Why didn't they merely run into one of the huts on the side of the farm they were on? It seems this would be much less risky.
Answer: As we see, there's a hiding place within their hut that can conceal Rocky even if the lid of the hut is lifted. If they hid in one of the others, they'd risk discovery if Mr Tweedy decided to look inside, hence Ginger's decision to take Rocky back to her own hut.
Question: If Mad Eye Moody was really Barty Crouch Jr. using the polyjuice potion as a disguise, why was he being so nice to Harry at the beginning of the book? For example, when he was showing the class how a certain spells affect people, why was he so happy when Harry fought the spell? Also, when Malfoy almost cast a spell on Harry, why did he get mad at Malfoy?
Answer: People have to believe that he's who he's pretending to be - Moody's the sort of person who would approve of Harry's attitude to things, so Crouch must do likewise. He also has to teach in a way that Moody would - very hands-on, showing approval to good students. Moody would also hate the underhanded tactics used by Malfoy, hence Crouch's defence of Harry. He has to make Harry (and everyone else) believe that he's on his side, that he's one of the good guys - if anyone got suspicious, it would be a threat to the plan, which requires Harry to survive through to win the Tournament. As such, up to that point, he'll protect Harry to the best of his ability.
Simpsons Bible Stories - S10-E18
Question: In the episode when Bart dreams he's in David vs. Goliath, there is a montage of him working out using sheep. The music is from an 80's movie, but I don't know what movie it's parodying or what the song is. Can someone please tell me?
Answer: The music is from "Over the Top", starring Sylvester Stallone as a champion arm-wrestler. I kid you not!
Question: Can anyone tell me why Dr. Crusher was written out for all of series two?
Answer: According to the "Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion," Gates McFadden was replaced as ship's Doctor by Dr. Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) because some of the show's producers were able to convince Gene Roddenberry that the character of Dr. Crusher was not developing well. Fans began a letter-writing campaign to bring McFadden back, and at the end of the second season, Roddenberry decided to replace Dr. Pulaski, saying the chemistry just wasn't good. Rather than finding a third doctor for the Enterprise, the decision was made to ask McFadden to return, and she accepted. Roddenberry later said, "It was always our intention to leave the door open for her to return to the show."
Question: What were the red vines for?
Chosen answer: If my memory serves me correctly from the radio play and the musical (as well as other sources, although I've never read the book), the reason Mars is red is not from the "rust" that we accept now, but from red vegetation. The aliens came and brought this vegetation with them, perhaps to give the earth a more suitable atmosphere (for them).
Question: I was a little confused. Why did the aliens die? I know it had to do with micro organisms but the answer doesn't come clear to me. Can someone please explain this for me?
Chosen answer: It's similar to how the Native Americans were decimated by smallpox and other diseases when America was colonised by Europe - They had never encountered that virus before, so they had no immunity to it whatsoever, and many of them died. The aliens would have no immunity to any diseases, or even a basic hereditary immunity to default earth viri. Basically they all caught some disease or other (maybe even a cold), and died because they had no immunity at all to it.
Question: Does anyone know what happened at the Bell household, after the Bride disposed of Vernita? I'm also curious as to what happened to Sophie, after her rough night.
Answer: For years there's been a rumor of a third movie with Sophie and blind Elle teaming up for revenge on the Bride.
Answer: It's never been stated what happened to be Bell household. Re Sophie, towards the end of Vol. 1 we see Sophie talking with Bill and if you listen to what Bill is saying and how he is articulating his speech you could make the assumption that he is really angry at Sophie for giving the bride the information rather than dying. My assumption would be that after Sophie told Bill everything about the Bride he would have killed her.
Question: While at the New Year party near the end, Mace tells Lenny that his clip of the Jerico One murder is the only one, and that there are no copies. Yet when Faith was explaining the situation earlier, we see Philo setting fire to a clip with the same content. Did I miss something?
Answer: The clip that Mace and Lenny have is a copy of the original that was made that Philo didn't know about. When he destroys the original by burning it, that leaves only the copy that was made and passed on to Lenny. He then has the only remaining copy, which is what Mace means.
Question: In the "Heidi" scene, when the girls are singing in German, what do they say?
Answer: In the German version of the movie, the text is a rather normal advertising song about the company, the Angels pretend to work for. In the US version however, the actresses' accents are so horrible, it is, besides some "typical German words", impossible to make out if their song has any meaning at all.
The One With Ross and Monica's Cousin - S7-E19
Question: I'm assuming in this episode that the problem with Joey is that he is circumcised and the role calls for an uncircumcised one. My question is, why don't they ever say the word in this episode? When Joey and Monica talk about it they skirt around it, would the censors really have such a problem with it?
Answer: It's a fairly standard humourous device to not actually name the thing you're talking about, especially when it relates to something a little risque. Also note that during the whole show, Joey tends to avoid talking about such intimate subjects with anyone but particularly the girls. Avoiding the word is just one way of reducing the embarrassment.
Question: At the beginning of the movie, during the auction, when the chandelier rises, the seats in the opera house are dusty. At the end of the movie, it is seen that the seats burn when the chandelier falls. Is this a mistake, or did they rebuild the opera house after the accident?
Answer: Considering the fact that nearly 50 years have passed between both sets of events, it is conceivable that the Opera House could have been rebuilt, at least partially, at some point before being abandoned for good.
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Answer: Production explanation: Gene Roddenberry took the name Hikaru from the legendary Japanese novel "Tale of Genji" and Sulu from the Sulu Sea, located in Southeast Asia. Roddenberry wanted a universal-Asian name and said, "[Since] the waters of a sea touch all shores," the name Sulu was perfect. Story-based explanation: presumably somewhere in Sulu's family line there was a non-Japanese (probably Filipino) male whose surname was passed on.
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