Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: I know about Peter Jackson's cameo on the Corsair ship, but does he do another cameo in the film? I thought I spotted him for a second in the charge on the Pelennor Fields.

Answer: He's been very quiet about it if this is true, and he's generally open about his cameo appearances. It's unlikely, I think, Jackson didn't really have the time to throw himself in all over the place - he seems to have stuck to one cameo per film. There was at least one false report of an additional cameo in the Two Towers, which would imply an actor who bears a resemblance to the director - maybe the same actor was used in the Pelennor Fields shot that you saw.

Tailkinker

Question: When Grant finds out that Billy stole the velociraptor eggs, the room they are in has broken windows. Why is this?

Answer: The Pteranadons broke them attacking the Site B crew before evacuation.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: Site B was devastated by a hurricane that would also have destroyed most glass windows on the compound.

Answer: 1: it's been abandoned for several years 2: lack of maintenance 3: bird cage, they most likely broke through.

Question: What is said between Upham and Steamboat Willie right before Willie gets shot? It's all in German and a very dramatic scene, one of my favorites. All I have is VHS and I can't find a complete script on the web.

Answer: Upham surprises the group of Germans, yelling at them to put their hands up and their weapons down. Willie says, "I know this soldier. I know this man." Upham says, "And shut your trap." Willie says, "Up-ham," and Upham shoots him.

Answer: The theme is a cover of The Smiths' 'How Soon Is Now' by a band called 'Love Spit Love'. The Soundtrack is available if you search around for it.

umathegreatstationarybear

Question: What is the music playing when the two brothers, Wendy and Peter are flying over London at the beginning?

Answer: It is the main theme that all the music was based on for the whole movie. The title of the song is 'Flying' and was composed by James Newton Howard. It is available on the soundtrack as track 2.

Doomed - S4-E11

Question: Specific answer needed, not a general "dialogue is sometimes re-recorded". Near the start of this episode, Buffy's talking to Giles about the significance of the earthquake. Buffy's dialogue sounds completely normal and recorded at the time, but all of Giles' dialogue is dubbed. I can only think he had a sore throat that day or similar, but does anyone know the specific reason he did his later?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: He had larangitis and because of the shooting specifications they had to have him shoot the scene with a bad throat, they then re-recorded his lines and dubbed them. At various points during the scene and indeed the episode you can see him touch his throat or rub it.

Show generally

Question: In the UK at the moment (June 2004) Sky 1 are running a series of ads for their "Best of Angel" vote - does anyone know what that song playing in the background is?

Shay

Chosen answer: "Vampire Love" by Ash from their new album "Meltdown".

Question: This is very absurd but some of my friends strongly think that Sam is a closet homosexual, and that his relationship with Frodo is more than loyality and friendship. They claim that Sam speaks of Rose Cotton as a way to "keep up with appearances." Can anyone tell me that Sam is not a homosexual?

megamii

Chosen answer: Sam ultimately marries Rosie and has thirteen children. Unless your friends still regard that as "keeping up appearances", in which case it's the most heroic case ever recorded, they're wrong. His love for Frodo is merely great loyalty and friendship, nothing more.

Tailkinker

Chosen answer: The Corsairs of Umbar are a piratical group, originally of Gondorian origin, whose founder, Castamir, was ousted as ruler of that land (he usurped the throne and had a vicious and cruel reign lasting ten years) some 1500 years before the events of the film. Since that time, they've held a great hatred for Gondor, fighting against them as much as possible. As a trivia note, forty years prior to the films, the Corsair fleets were all but destroyed by a devastating Gondorian attack led by a man named Thorongil. Thorongil was, in fact, Aragorn - he used this alias during his early life and his service to the lords of both Gondor and Rohan (as mentioned in the extended Two Towers film).

Tailkinker

Question: Is there a romantic relationship between Galadriel and Gimli? Also, it seems foolish, but is it true that Galadriel seems to have some sort of infatuation with Frodo? She seems pleased (by her come-hither looks) that Frodo is coming with her to the Undying Lands in the Grey Havens scene.

megamii

Chosen answer: Galadriel and Gimli? Bizarre mental image. Um, no, there's nothing going on there. Gimli does fall for her beauty, true, and she's flattered, but there's nothing else there. Do bear in mind that Celeborn, her husband, is around as well. No, she doesn't have an infatuation with Frodo either - her initial rapport with him would be down to them both being Ringbearers. Come-hither looks at the Grey Havens? I don't really see those - what I see is that she's excited about returning to Valinor, the land where she was born, and that she hasn't seen for seven thousand years. Nothing to do with Frodo going along, or any desire for hobbit lurve...

Tailkinker

Question: Are there hidden allegories (Christian, political, social, etc.) behind the stories of the Ring trilogy?

megamii

Chosen answer: None whatsoever. To quote Tolkien "As for any inner meaning or 'message', it has in the intention of the author none". He was strongly opposed to those who tried to read deeper meaning into the books.

Tailkinker

Question: Why the heck does Eric keep Tyrannosaur urine in the truck?

Answer: He keeps the T-Rex urine with him, so he can repel off things like velociraptors, and other dangerous carnivores.

Chaz1003

Question: Why did the Wachowskis kill Trinity in Reloaded, bring her back to life, and kill her again in this film? The Architect said no matter what Trinity was going to die, so Neo should have just gone straight to the Source in Reloaded and destroy it.

Answer: Neo had no concrete reasons to believe the Architect. He was madly in love (yeah, tell me you would have let your true love die if you knew you could save her!) with Trinity and unwilling to let her die without at least trying. And the directors must have thought it would play more tragically to save her only to lose her later.

Grumpy Scot

Question: When Jess is being introduced to Mel in the locker room, Mel says to Jess "Welcome to the Harriers," then looks at Jules and says "Paints and decorators are in." It sounds like rhyming slang but I never heard that one before, what's she mean?

Answer: It's not rhyming slang, in this particular case. This is a phrase used (in the UK, anyway) to indicate that a woman is having her period.

Tailkinker

Question: What happens at the end of this film? Was the man who was shot the real man, and who was that guy who McQueen shot at the end?

Answer: The man shot at the hotel at the beginning is Renick. Ross assumed Renick's identity and was going to flee the country. Ross kills Mrs. Renick to keep her quiet. The man at the airport that Bullitt kills is Ross.

ChiChi

Show generally

Question: We Know Brian is old (he says in one episode his Cadillac is his pension), how come he has no wrinkles on his face? I wouldn't think Brian has facials.

Answer: I always took that line about the Cadillac being his pension meant that its something he's going to enjoy when he retires. Otherwise, wouldn't he have said, "my pension paid for that" or something. And apart from that, Brian is played by a much younger Peter Kay, who probably decided that putting on lots of fancy age make-up would be both expensive, and unneccessary for a cheaply made sitcom.

Question: In the first movie (Fellowship), Galadriel says that she will 'diminish' and go to the west. What happens to the elves after they reach the Undying Lands. Do they lose their super-natural powers?

Answer: In Valinor, the elves will live with the Valar, their 'gods', in peace and tranquility. Elves don't really have supernatural powers - they have abilities appropriate to their species, which are strange to us, but not actually supernatural - these should remain the same. Galadriel will lose some of her abilities, yes, but this isn't because of relocating to Valinor, it's mostly down to the power of her Ring being lost. Whether those elves with magical abilities (spell-casting and so forth) will keep them is unclear - it's fairly questionable that they'd need them.

Tailkinker

Show generally

Question: Was the Angel spin-off created because it was time for the character to be written out of Buffy but Angel was too good a creation to ditch, or was the character written out because people thought a spin-off would be a better idea?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: Joss Whedon claims to have had the idea for a spin-off series while watching David Boreanaz's performance in the late second season episode "I Only Have Eyes For You" - he began to feel that Boreanaz would be capable of carrying his own series. From that point on, taking Angel off to his own show was on Joss's mind and many of the events of the third season were written with this intention.

Tailkinker

Question: Does anyone know why they decided to call Aragorn's horse Brego? In the books Aragorn rides two horses: Hasufell and Roheryn. Brego is actually the name of a former king of Rohan. It's strange that the film-makers don't use one of the "real" names when they are mentioned in the books.

Answer: Aragorn does ride Hasufel - just as in the books, he is lent to Aragorn by Eomer when they meet on the plains and Aragorn rides him until they reach Edoras. As for Roheryn - in the books, this is Aragorn's own horse, brought to him by a group of Rangers who join him for the fight. As this doesn't happen in the film, an alternative horse was needed. Choosing to use the "kingly-named" Brego, former steed of the late Theodred, the heir to the kingdom of Rohan provides a subtle reinforcement of Aragorn's gradual ascendancy towards the kingship.

Tailkinker

Question: When Marlin discovers Mr Ray has taken his class to the Dropoff, he says "why don't we just fry them up and serve them with chips". American "Chips" are not the same as British "Chips." Is this dialogue only in the UK video release that I have, and if so, what is in the US version?

Answer: Even though "chip" as french fries instead of crisps is not an "American" term, we still use it as a description for "fish and chips." There is actually a Fish and Chips stand about a mile from my house and my mom even worked at a fish and chips stand when she was in college. So, it says that on the American version of the DVD as well.

wolfchild

Answer: There's no reason one can't serve actual potato chips with a meal, loads of American restaurants do, some even go so far as to house-fry fresh ones instead of out of a bag.

dizzyd

It's just a saying as "chips" also refers to "fries." It's not technical.

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