I saw a movie years and years ago. I think it was a kids or family movie from the early/mid-90's. I just remember either the opening scene or the second scene introducing the hero (who was like a teen or pre-teen boy) playing Nintendo... and he was using his index fingers on the controller instead of his thumbs. I could swear the main character was played by Tobey Maguire, but I can't seem to find the scene anywhere, so it was probably someone else. (Maybe he was in the movie but didn't play the main character?) Does this ring anyone's bell?
Bishop73
29th Jan 2021
General questions
Answer: It sounds like "The Wizard" (1989) starring Fred Savage and Luke Edwards. It's about kids playing Nintendo. Tobey Maguire has an uncredited role in the film as a "goon."
25th Jan 2021
Final Destination (2000)
Question: After Alex trades seats with Christa and Blake, Tod complains: "Because of you I have to sit here and watch fucking Stuart Little." What does he mean by this exactly? I know about the movie Stuart Little but I don't see what it has to do with anything.
Answer: Tod was sitting next to Blake and hoping to make some sort of move on her, or at least chat/flirt with her. Since Alex agreed to switch seats, Tod has to sit next to Alex and is saying now he has to watch the in-flight movie, instead of trying to score with Blake.
20th Feb 2008
Father Ted (1995)
Think Fast, Father Ted - S2-E2
Question: What's the song that the dancing priest Father Finnigan is dancing to when Ted asks to borrow his car?
Answer: It's from 1960 and called Beatnik Fly and is played by Johnny & The Hurricanes.
It's not Beatnik Fly.
What makes you think it's not?
Because Beatnik Fly is a different instrumental, it's similar but not Beatnik Fly.
It's definitely Beatnik Fly. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI8OMrO1Y_Q.
22nd Jan 2021
The Karate Kid (1984)
Question: Tommy mentions something about ace degenerate - what was he talking about?
Answer: Tommy was saying Johnny was the number one, or best in the group, degenerate. Meaning if there was something bad or wrong to do or get into, Johnny would have been the first to do it or lead the way. Tommy offered Johnny a beer and Johnny refused. At this point, they're not even seniors in high school, so they're engaging in illegal underaged drinking (degenerate behavior). Tommy says it in an affectionate/positive way though, like he his proud to be degenerate.
17th Jan 2021
The Fugitive (1993)
Question: So the original plan was to kill Kimble and not his wife (or her too, but he was meant to be the main target). However, if I'm not mistaken, Sykes didn't break into the apartment but was granted access instead, probably by Nichols. If the plan wouldn't have gone wrong and Kimble had been killed, would Sykes had forged a breaking in?
Answer: It's unlikely he would have made it look like a break in. He would make it look like an accident, or even something like a heart attack. Sykes killed Lentz by making it look like an accident.
Answer: It's unknown what Sykes' exact plan was. Any answer is mere speculation though his plan would have to somehow include both Kimble and his wife as Sykes would apparently expect both to be at home late at night. Leaving the wife alive would be a liability. It would be difficult to make two deaths look accidental or a result of natural causes.
11th Jan 2021
Justice League (2017)
Question: Why did the filmmakers pick Cyborg instead of Green Lantern?
Answer: To start, oftentimes it's hard to establish a Green Lantern character without establishing a vast "universe." You have the Green Lantern Corp filled with thousands of aliens from across the galaxy, the Guardians, a power ring that creates virtually anything, etc. It's easier to do this in animation over live-action. Ryan Reynolds' "Green Lantern" film underperformed and future projects were scrapped, failing to set-up a Green Lantern universe. So when Warner Bros. Set up the DCEU, they went with Superman (from the "Man of Steel" film). After DC's "New 52", Cyborg became a founding member of the Justice League (along with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Green Lantern). So it's not that film makers replaced Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) with Cyborg, they simply left Green Lantern out.
11th Jan 2021
General questions
I remember a cartoon we used to have on VHS back when I was a kid. So the cartoon would have been from sometime in the 80's or at very latest the early 90's. I think it might have been Japanese, but I'm not sure. I just remember there was either a light pink or baby-blue creature that I wanna say was a dragon (I can't remember what color it was)... but it would float on the water. The only comparison I can make is that it kind of looked like a "Lapras" from "Pokemon." I wanna say it was a movie, but it honestly could have just been a few back-to-back episodes of a series on the tape we had. Does this ring anyone's bell? I've been curious about it for years, because I have memories of watching it, but can't remember what it's called.
Answer: Just a suggestion for you to review. "Serendipity the Pink Dragon." It's a Japanese anime show from 1983 and only lasted 1 season. An English dubbed version was released on VHS in 1989. Here's the intro scene. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PbSIsDRiuTw.
Yeah, I stumbled onto a rip of the movie on YouTube not long after I submitted the question. I also looked at the cover art online, and it seemed a little familiar. I'm a solid 75% sure that's it.
Answer: Just an update: While visiting my mother, I was able to confirm 100% that it was "Serendipity: The Pink Dragon." Showed her a picture of the cover and she said she definitely remembered us having it based on the cover image.
Answer: I'm about 75% sure it was "Serendipity: The Pink Dragon." But there's a small chance it could be something else, so if there's any other answers that fit the bill, please let me know.
19th Jan 2014
Jumanji (1995)
Question: At the end, how is it that Alan and Sarah remember Judy and Peter, if they grew up as if nothing had happened?
Chosen answer: Alan and Sarah remember everything that had happened during the course of the game's length, as would Judy and Peter if they'd been alive yet when the game started. All players retain their memory of the game after it ends, except in this sort of unusual circumstance where two of them didn't exist at the time the game began.
With the logic of Jumanji 2, Judy and Peter will also remember Jumanji in 1995. They still do not remember it because the final scene of the first film is at Christmas 1994.
Too bad Jumanji 2 has no logic and has nothing to do with this one except the name.
The logic of Jumanji 2 (which this is) doesn't apply because the idea is in the original Jumanji film, Alan and Sarah changed Judy and Peter's history and they ended up never playing the game. In Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Alex does nothing to change the history of the 4 main characters, therefore, they go on to play the game after Alex returns to his own time.
Answer: Actually I believe the kids did remember there was a silent look shared between all them at the end when they meet up that many people say is confusion but I think its more along the lines of "hey don't blow this shared secret none of us can explain"
Nah there is no indication that Peter an Judy remembered as well. Think about it, they would have remembers from since they were born. Also, they would then also know their parents will die in an accident. Thats crazy. They had that look because Alan and Sarah reacted that way and were wondering why they did that. They didn't say anything and even wondered why Alan and Sarah so emphatically said "no" to their parents going skiing (where they would have their accident).
I feel Judy and Peter remember Alan and Sarah because when Alan and Sarah shouted that Judy and Peters parents cannot go for the skiing vacation Judy and Peter did not have a shocked look on their face instead they had a smile on their face.
21st Jun 2004
Dawson's Creek (1998)
Question: Jack and Andie are brother and sister in the same grade...but does the show ever explain how that came to be? Are they twins or was Andie moved up because she is so smart?
Answer: It's only explained once in the series. Jack says to Andie "I tried to start kindergarten without you", meaning Andie was smart enough to start school early.
Answer: They are not twins (Jack is older than Andie). It is possible due to when birthdays fall in the school calender for non-twin siblings to end up in the same grade. Say that you have to be 5 on Sept 1 to start Kindergarten, you are born on Sept 2, 2000 and your little sister on Aug 30, 2001. Sept 1, 2005, you are 4 years and 364 days and can't start. So Sept 1, 2006, you are 5 years and 364 days and your sister is 5 years and 1 day, and, voila!, you're both in the same grade.
Answer: The writers have said they are not twins and Jack is older. Although they were both born in 1983. In some states, like Massachusetts, it's a district decision when a child under 6-8 can start kindergarten, so there's no age deadline. In January 1988, Jack and Andie would both be 4, turning 5, and the district then allowed Andie to start kindergarten with her brother. It has nothing to do with Andie being smarter or moved up a grade, a point she alludes to in response to Jack saying he tried to start kindergarten without her (s04e04). As a side note, there was talk among the writers about whether to make Jack older or younger and they ultimately decided to make him older. The writers put in an inside joke about that when Andie says she is "definitely the older sibling in this relationship" (s04e04). It's also an inside joke to the fact that Meredith Monroe (Andie) was almost 2.5 years older than Kerr Smith (Jack). Monroe was 18, turning 19, in 1988.
13th Oct 2020
3rd Rock from the Sun (1996)
Question: I'm watching this show on an app called "Tubi TV" and none of the 1st season episodes have the opening narration from James Earl Jones. I remember watching this on TV, but it would have been reruns and I can't remember hearing the narration then either (granted, I may have forgotten hearing it, but it's so distinct and unique that I don't think I would have forgotten it). When the show was in rerun syndication, was the narration removed? Why? Just to ad 30-seconds of ad time? Why would the narration be removed on streaming services where ad time isn't an issue? Do they not have access to the originals? Has anyone seen the narration removed anywhere else?
Answer: I have the entire series on DVD, and season 1 doesn't have the narration on it either. Perhaps the studio cut it to avoid having to pay residuals to James Earl Jones. Some episodes on my DVDs also seem to be missing scenes or parts of scenes that appeared in original airings, but were removed in syndication, so it seems just as likely that all episodes that were supplied for DVD replication or for streaming services received versions that were the edited for syndication.
Thank you for this insight. Interesting the DVDs don't have it.
8th Jan 2021
Back to School (1986)
Question: I have always been curious about one thing in this movie - when Thornton was taking the oral examination, if he answered all of Dr. Barbay's questions right, why did he only get a D? How did Dean Martin not question that?
Answer: We don't know that he answered all the questions right, just that he answered the last one right. Based on Barbay's upset response to that correct answer, it is likely Thornton was at the edge between a wrong answer giving him an F and a correct answer giving him the D he got.
Answer: It should also be noted he got all D's and just 1 A. So it wasn't just Barbay that gave him a D.
8th Jan 2021
Superman (1978)
Question: How did Lex Luthor find out that kryptonite makes Superman weak?
Answer: When Krypton exploded, fragments of the planet went into space. Luthor said it's reasonable to assume some of those particles drifted to Earth. He also thinks the fragments would have a very high specific radioactivity that would be lethal to anyone from Krypton. However, to me everything he says about the effect of kryptonite is a guess and there doesn't seem to be anything in film to suggest the fragments from Krypton would be radioactive or the radioactivity would affect Superman.
8th Jan 2021
General questions
I remember watching part of a movie on TV when I was about five or six years old I was old enough to read because the movie had subtitles. All I remember is a mom and two kids get off a train somewhere, and she speaks in a different language to an officer. It had subtitles and I remember the man tells the lady that she can keep only one of her children and the other one has to go. She keeps saying that she can't choose and to not make her choose. I remember some men come and threaten to take away both of her kids but at the last minute she tells them to take her daughter. A soldier then takes her little girl away screaming and crying. I remember the scene was pretty scary and I didn't watch anymore of the movie after this. So does anyone know what this movie was called?
Answer: You're describing "Sophie's Choice" (1982) where Meryl Streep, Sophie, is sent to Auschwitz with her children and has to choose which child will be sent to the children's camp and which one will die. She chooses her daughter to die and the soldiers take her away.
8th Jan 2021
Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
Question: When Zeus is on the phone with Simon in the subway, Zeus says that McClane was on his way. Simon responds that they weren't playing by the rules, hangs up and a few moments later the bomb goes off. McClane states that Simon wanted the subway bomb to go off. Why would McClane think it was Simon's intention to have the bomb go off whether they both show up or not?
Answer: Because Simon basically gave them an impossible task. Given NYC traffic, getting 90 blocks in 30 minutes is a Sisyphean task.
5th Jan 2021
Broken English (2007)
Question: When Nora drinks with Nick Gable at the bar, she says "You know what Hugh Hefner says about ____? That 3 are too many and one is not enough." What's the word she said in the blank? What is she talking about? The subtitle was left out there. And from what I searched, this "Hugh Hefner" is a real person. The Wikipedia says he is an American magazine publisher. Is there a remark that became known to the public he has ever said? (00:14:10)
Answer: She appears to actually be paraphrasing author James Thurber: "One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough." Hugh Hefner was the publisher of Playboy Magazine, but he doesn't seem to be the one who made this quote.
Chosen answer: The word she says is "breasts." I've never found it attributed to Hugh Hefner though. The quote seems to have originated from the film "The Parallax View" where Gail says "They say a martini is like a woman's breast: one ain't enough and three is too many." It's been re-quoted in several different places and has nothing to do with James Thurber. She's just saying it as a joke and I think they used Hefner's name since it sounds like something he might say since he founded Playboy, but also so Nick could say "he's one to talk, he has 19 girlfriends."
There are Internet sources showing that the original quote being paraphrased is by James Thurber: "One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough."
Yes, but that's not the joke and has nothing to do with the scene. They're two different quotes and the latter one has nothing to do with Thurber's quote. His quote is not being paraphrased at all.
Yes, but the way your response is worded makes it sound as if the quote never had anything to do all with James Thurber. Brian Katcher was citing it in his response to give context to the joke's origin and how it is being paraphrased, not the joke itself.
Yes, the quote in the movie, despite not being credited to Hefner, IS NOT Thurber's quote. Brian just brought up a random quote that had nothing to do with the scene or the question.
5th Jan 2021
Jack Frost (1998)
18th Dec 2019
The Fugitive (1993)
Question: When Kimble is in the hospital with the boy he changes the diagnosis to what? I have tried to look but it cuts away as he's writing it down on the boy's file.
Answer: When Richard changes the diagnosis, the first thing he writes down is "AO" which is medical shorthand for aorta. Many people who have medical degrees and saw the movie speculate that Joel had an aortic tear. This would cause blood to flow into the chest cavity making it difficult to breathe and with the impact from the crash it could have caused the fatal injury. An aortic tear requires immediate surgery and by changing Joel's diagnosis, Kimble was able to save his life.
Answer: Kimble is watching as the doctor, Al, looks at the chest film and states "possible fractured sternum, he's stable," and we can see Kimble's bothered by that. Then Kimble is told to take the boy to observation room 2. When Kimble questions the boy and looks at the chest film, Kimble ignores what he was told, and instead heads directly for the surgical OR. In the elevator he draws a line over the incorrect essential diagnosis: "depress chest w/ poss fr" (possible fracture), and begins to write "Ao," then he scribbles a signature on the Patient of Dr line. The essential diagnosis Kimble writes is presumably an Aortic trauma, which is a life-threatening critical injury and requires immediate attention. So when Kimble brings the boy to the OR (instead of observation room 2) for the emergency medical procedure, he tells the doctor the boy was sent up from downstairs. The child is then taken to operating room 4, STAT, saving the child's life.
Its a pneumothorax, is air trapped between the lung and the ribcage and it's very common.
Answer: The presumption is the boy was misdiagnosed and he changed the chart to the correct diagnosis. The doctor says later that he saved the boy's life. Most likely he changed the charge to order specific tests.
Answer: It's never specified what he changed the orders to, nor is it important to know. This was done only add to the plot where the other doctor noticed him looking at the X-ray, arousing her suspicion, then creating suspense as Kimble barely escapes from the hospital.
We know it isn't important know, it's just a point of curiosity.
True and if you notice that's the always reliable Julianne Moore as the other doctor. This was the first movie that she did that was lampooned in Mad magazine, the next would be Mocking Jay Part 1.
"The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and "Hannibal" were both lampooned by Mad before "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1."
I totally get that you're curious about it. Just saying that filmmakers usually aren't concerned with showing small details like that. They use broader strokes to tell the story.
A lot of film makers do put in small details into their work. Yes, some are lazy, for example, repeating 1 or 2 paragraphs in a news article too look like they whole page is filled. Others take time to have the whole thing filled out, even adding funny things for the viewer who paused the video to read. This is why there's a lot of trivia entries and questions about what something small was or meant. A casual viewer wouldn't know if what they saw meant something or was the film makers being lazy.
3rd Jan 2021
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
15th May 2013
Superman (1978)
Question: When Superman went back in time to save Lois, doesn't that mean that the people that he had originally saved are now doomed to die?
Chosen answer: No. Because the version of him *before* he time-traveled is still out doing those things. The REAL question is, what happens to that Superman, seeing as Lois no longer dies and he has no reason to travel back in time.
Answer: There are generally two methods of time travel. Skip vs Slide. When you slide through time, you are in essence rewinding or fast forwarding a tape. Time will accelerate to the desired moment. This method, the traveler will witness the rewind and will only allow one of them to exist. When skipping, you are plucking yourself from the time stream and placing yourself in the desired moment. This method, travel is instantaneous and can allow for multiples of the traveler to exist at once. Superman rewound time. He used the slide method and went directly to Lois after doing so. This means those he previously saved...died after his reversal.
Or he could have used the skip method. Like you said, it enables a traveler to pluck themself from the time stream and placing them at the desired moment allowing for two Supermen to be able to prevent both missiles from reaching their destinations.
He couldn't have used the skip method if he rewound time.
29th Dec 2020
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
Question: There is something I don't understand about Linus in this special. He is flattered when Sally flirts with him by saying he says the cutest things, and that he's so intelligent. Linus usually rejects Sally's feelings whenever she flirts him. Why should this be any different?
Answer: From what I've seen, usually Sally is often annoying Linus with her flirting when he has nothing in common with her, or he's just trying to do something to help her and she tries to make it into more. Here, Sally's comments make Linus think she believes in the Great Pumpkin too, or is at least interested in hearing more about it. It's more that he's excited she likes the same thing as he does. Later in the pumpkin patch, he's happy she's there because he wants to share the experience with someone, not because he has any feeling towards Sally.
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Answer: As has happened a few times now, I stumbled onto the answer between submitting the question and it actually being posted, haha. It was evidently "Revenge of the Red Baron" that I was remembering. I was going through Maguire's filmography trying to find the answer and found that someone had gone ahead and posted the whole movie on YouTube. Watched a few minutes and the scene I remember was there. (I thought it might have been "The Wizard" too at first).
TedStixon