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: Can anyone tell me the name of the artist who sings a jazz version of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' played when Tom Hanks finishes talking on the radio for the first time? And where can I buy this version of the song?

Answer: Ray Charles is the singer who performs this version of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" - this is not on the original movie soundtrack, but you may be able to find a Ray Charles album where this song is included.

I found an album by Ray Charles "Genius Loves Company By Ray Charles, Ray Charles And the Count Basie Orchestra" where "Over the Rainbow" is one of the songs, but it's not the same rendition as in the movie "Sleepless in Seattle." I can't fine the movie version anywhere.

Try the Ray Charles album "Genius Loves Company." It's a collections of duets and he sings "Over the Rainbow" with Johnny Mathis. It was supposedly recorded sometime between 2003 and 2004, but his lines sounds like what's in the film. So I don't know if it's just him reprising an older version he did that was used in the film, or if it's the older version with Mathis' lines mixed in. I couldn't find anything earlier.

Bishop73

Question: Following up on the answered question about Rose being Cal's "wife in practice", was sleeping together before marriage socially acceptable among that class of people at that time?

Answer: No, contrary to what movies lead us to believe now, it was highly inappropriate for intercourse before marriage until about after World War I.

Question: Right after the opera scene when Willis is getting the stones his shirt has sleeves. When he exits the opera house his sleeves are ripped off and he has blood on him. Was there a deleted fight scene?

Answer: Korben's shirt is fine before the fight with the aliens who walk back into the theater after Ruby shoots the hostage one by accident. A deleted or not filmed fight sequence occurs in which Korben and Ruby both get their shirts ripped up and gain several small wounds. The point where we see Korben shoot the three on the balcony is after he's taken care of the ones in the theater.

Answer: He has spirit gum (glue safe for human skin application) allowing the mask to stick to his face.

Question: In the scene where McClane kills the first terrorist,why doesn't he just shoot him? He wastes bullets and risks his life by fighting him. He's got a gun on him at point blank range,it would've been so much easier to just shoot him.

Answer: As it is said during that scene, John is a cop, he won't shoot unless its neccessary. He is smart enough to try get information first. You can't get any information from a dead terrorist. Then when he tries to use force, the struggle eventuated. John actually didn't mean to kill him, he just so happened to be holding onto the right part of his head as they were rolling down the stairwell.

XIII

Show generally

Question: What is the name of the song that plays at the end of the last episode of season 1, when Ryan is leaving in the car and Seth in his boat?

Answer: Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley.

Bobbert

The One In Vegas, Part 2 - S5-E24

Question: When Joey is talking to his 'hand twin' in the bathroom he says "...And you know NASA's gonna want to talk to us." If he does in fact say NASA, then what does he mean? Why would they want 'hand twins'? Thanks.

Answer: It's just one of the nonsensical things Joey says, it's not as if NASA would really want hand twins. He just thinks they might because NASA researches a lot of stuff.

LuMaria 1

Answer: 1986.

Question: In my copy of Shrek 2 the ugly stepsister has a very grumpy voice but in the real movie she has a different voice but why?

Answer: The Ugly Stepsister's voice was performed by different people, specifically chat-show hosts from the country in question - so, in the US release, it's Larry King, in the UK release, Jonathan Ross and so on. Your DVD is presumably a different version to the one that you saw at the cinema.

Tailkinker

She Used to Be My Girl - S16-E4

Question: At the end of this episode when Marge was imagining what life would have been like if she was a reporter, what did she mean by the "miracle on ice that never happened" and why did she scream afterwards?

Answer: The Miracle on Ice is when the 1980 USA Ice Hockey team defeated the USSR in the semifinal round and was deemed a huge upset worldwide. The reason it was a miracle is the Russian team was highly favored, having defeated the U.S. in a preliminary game by a huge margin, and this game with them was just a precursor for the Russians to get to the championship game. She screamed because now the US hasn't won.

Tobin OReilly

Question: Why does Berger tell Sheila and her friend, that he needs $250 to bail his friends out? The bail was $50/person an there's only 4 of them in jail.

Answer: He wanted to give Claude his $50 back.

Answer: Because if he admits that his wife was the diabetic, then that opens the door to the possibility that it was HE who killed his wife with an overdose of insulin, and not Sammy Jankis. He can't face that possibility, so he simply denies that she was ever diabetic.

Rooster of Doom

Question: Can someone please tell me why Peter Jackson cut out the chapter in the book about the hobbits rebelling against "Sharkey". I can understand it in the theatrical version (time restrictions) but he had all the time in the world for the extended version and he still didn't put it in. I thought the Hobbit rebellion was the best part of all the 3 books.

Answer: The climax of the tale, from the film-making point of view, is the destruction of the Ring and the fall of Sauron. Having the movie go on for at least another hour after that (which would be required for the Scouring of the Shire) simply wouldn't work. Practically all the scenes that have been added into the Extended Cut are scenes that were cut from the theatrical film - i.e. they were filmed with their inclusion in the theatrical release in mind. Given the amount of work that they had to do, to then film a long, complex sequence (which would require a lot of effects work, as it features multiple battles between men and hobbits) purely to be included in the Extended Edition would not have been possible.

Tailkinker

Show generally

Question: When Phoebe's mom died she went and lived on the street. But why? I am sure they had a house. Why would someone take it away from them? And what about her Grandmother?

Answer: Any answer would be a guess, it's never explained. But she mostly likely ran away from home and lived on the streets and later reconnected with her grandmother.

Answer: It's unlikely Phoebe's surrogate mother, Lily, owned a house. They lived in NYC, had little money, and probably rented a cheap apartment. Young Phoebe would be unable to support herself after Lily's suicide. It's unknown why Phoebe did not immediately go to live with her adoptive grandmother, Frances, but there appeared to be a rift between Lily and her mother. Frances may not have known right away that Phoebe was left homeless and assumed she and her twin sister, Ursula, were with their blood relatives. Phoebe, still a minor, may have run away to avoid being placed in foster care, and later lived with Frances.

raywest

Answer: According to Phoebe her mother had severe mental problems. It could be that had a house but lost it because of it, they lived on the streets and sometime later after her mother died she went to live with her grandmother. They could have lived with her grandmother, but the mother's mental problems drove her out. Either way Phoebe would want be with her to take care of her.

I don't believe it likely Phoebe and her mother would have been on the streets / homeless at the time of her mother's suicide. Multiple times in the series Phoebe explicitly states that her mom committed suicide by putting her head in an oven / was "in the kitchen." The context and phrasing as Phoebe describes it strongly implies they were in their house at the time.

Answer: It's mostly about Nameless' assassination attempt, but there is a subplot in the different flashbacks developing the relationship between Snow and Sword. Not much of an arc to that one, though.

Phoenix

Question: On the Garfield DVD menu, there is a Spanish salsa and it is also in the scene when Garfield goes to the vet and asks for a Swedish massage, a manicure and pedicure etc. What is the name of this song?

Answer: "Naranja" written by Andrew Kaiser. Naranja is spanish for Orange.

Question: The mouse was deliberately put in a parcel without airholes. How did it survive?

Answer: It survived because it's funny. Just like it survived everything else the brothers tried to do to it.

Grumpy Scot

Question: I was wondering what the title of the piece of music that plays in Love Actually when the little boy is running through the airport, and when Jaime asks Aurelia to marry him. I also heard in during The Aviator trailer. It's a really beautiful piece, and I've love to know the title.

Answer: I can't remember if it really is the same song, but the song that plays when he asks Aurelia to marry him is the 'Portugese Love Theme' by Craig Armstrong.

Answer: The music playing when he's running through the airport is "Prime Minister's Love Theme" by Craig Armstrong.

Answer: Trinkie.

Nikki

Question: Question about the Director's Cut of the film. The scene where Brett is looking for Jones has been altered slightly - when he looks up at where the water is dripping from, you can actually see the Alien hanging motionlessly from one of the chains. Has Ridley Scott given an explanation as to why he added this new dynamic to the scene? It's easy enough to speculate why, but a link to an 'official' explanation would be appreciated.

Answer: According to the commentary on the DVD, Ridley didn't add this scene to the original cinematic release because he thought it revealed the true horror of the Alien too soon in the film. The scene is quite early in the film and he thought revealing the fully matured Alien at that time would reduce the viewer's fear.

I had watched Alien several times before I noticed the Alien hanging there.At this point the Audience have no idea what the Alien looks like, they're looking at pieces of science fiction equipment put in by the production crew that they can't relate to, so for all they know the Alien could just be a piece of kit hanging there.

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