What was this science fiction show or movie I saw in the early 80s? There was this eclectic group of aliens, including, strangely, an earth cowboy. Some of the group were identical aliens who did everything exactly the same. When the cowboy offered an alien a hot dog, they all began chewing, and reciting the ingredients ("and artificial flavoring").
Bishop73
11th Oct 2022
General questions
9th Oct 2022
Training Day (2001)
Question: How was Alonzo going to square his $1M debt to the Russians when his take from Roger's robbery/arrest was only $250,000? I believe that they split the $1M from Roger 4 ways.
Answer: They seized $4M and Alonzo's cut was $1M.
I believe you are mistaken. The box held $4M originally. Alonzo hands out a bundle of cash that he says is $250,000. And the dialog is Alonzo: there's over $4M dollars in here! You lucky prick! First day on the job you hit a three million dollar seizure" Jake: " Wait, you said Four..." Alonzo: "Aha, taxation without representation, brotha. Nothing's free in this world. Buy your wife a mini van, put the kids through college"
6th Oct 2022
Bob's Burgers (2011)
Question: The song they play in this episode's end credits - can anybody tell me what it's called?
Answer: It's a made up song for the show. It's a synth version of what the kids sang in Mr. Frond's video at the beginning of the episode. "Let's Swap Eyes."
25th Sep 2022
Somewhere In Time (1980)
Question: Where did the pocket watch originate? He got it from her, but she got it from him. No one bought it.
Answer: The book never included each of them giving the other the pocket watch. So it was added just for the film, but I don't know if the film makers did this to intentionally show audiences the paradoxes of time travel. This would be an example of a causality loop. The watch seems to exists solely because of time travel. This would be like if you were visited by your future self who tells you how to build a time machine and gives you the plans. You build the time machine and afterwards, go back in time to give your younger self the plans to build a time machine. So where did the plans come from? One solution basically states time was moving linear and at some point you invent time travel. Then once you go into the past, you created a loop. So at some point in the past, Elise had the pocket watch which she gives to Richard for some reason and when he gives it to her in the past, he creates the loop. But the film is just the loop, so we don't know where it comes from.
17th Sep 2022
General questions
I need help with the title of a book my teacher read to my class in 5th grade, circa 1995. The only details I remember were it taking place in either the North or South Pole, and the main character killed a polar bear by shooting it in the head.
Answer: It may or may not help, but polar bears don't live in Antarctica (the South Pole).
Answer: If you aren't recalling the details, the only movie (and book) around this time period that I can think of is "Alaska" (1996), starring Vincent Kartheiser and Thora Birch. But Vincent did not shoot a polar bear - a poacher shot a mother polar bear and the baby followed the kids while they searched for their father who had wrecked his plane.
I've never seen the movie Alaska, but the book in question feels like it was probably more of a survival story rather than an adventure. The only additional detail I can give is that the teacher assigned us to draw a scene from the book, and since the protagonist shot the polar bear in the head, many of the boys in the class, myself included, decided to draw that scene, complete with exaggerated gore.
"Alaska" was about survival.
I wonder if your teacher may have deliberately altered some information (e.g, the boy shooting the bear) to make the story more relevant and provocative to the grade level and whatever discussion questions that were given?
I've only seen the Nostalgia Critic's review of it, but wasn't it about the father's survival while his children were on an adventure of sorts to rescue him? Again, I'm not familiar with the "Alaska" book, but it seems like the protagonist for my book was an adult male and it was told from his point of view.
12th Sep 2022
King of the Hill (1997)
Question: Trying to remember the episode where Peggy damn near kills herself competing with Minh over who donates the most blood.
Answer: "The Buck Stops Here", s05e02.
7th Sep 2022
Short Circuit (1986)
Question: I thought the movie was supposed to take place in Oregon? In several scenes, specifically when NOVA shows up to collect Number 5 the first time, multiple vehicles can be seen with Washington state license plates. Also, you can see a ferry in the background in what appears to be Puget Sound. (00:43:50 - 00:49:20)
Answer: Astoria, Oregon is just across from Washington state on the Columbia River. The Highway 101 bridge connects Washington to Astoria, and it takes mere minutes to cross. Unlike Washington, Oregon has no state sales tax, so many Washingtonians who live near the border shop there, and their cars would be seen. Also, there are several vintage paddlewheel river boats belonging to a river cruise company based in Astoria. From a distance, they are a similar size, shape, and white color as a Puget Sound ferry. That is probably what you saw cruising on the Columbia River.
Answer: Johnny 5 finds himself in Astoria, Oregon after escaping. However, NOVA Laboratories is located in Washington State. I'm not sure about Puget Sound though since filming in Washington took place in Stevenson, where NOVA is supposed to be located.
7th Sep 2022
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
4th Sep 2022
An Affair to Remember (1957)
29th Aug 2022
The Mist (2007)
28th Aug 2022
General questions
When any movies are shown on television, why are non offensive lines dubbed with another line? Ex. In the movie *batteries not included, Carlos says to Frank, "You kill my head, man." When the movie appeared on TV, the line was changed to, You make me sick, man."
Answer: Agree with the other answer, but specifically to your example, phrases like, "You kill my head, man," while inoffensive regarding sex or profanity, could be considered problematic due to constant mass shootings and a concern about inciting violence. In other cases, some dialogue may be changed because it is now recognized as being socially and culturally offensive to women, disabled people, certain ethnic groups, and others.
Answer: It's often done so the movie can air on television and be presented to younger audiences. Ex. In the 1984 Ghostbusters film, Bill Murray says, "I'll sue your ass for wrongful prosecution," but the first time I saw it on TV (in the 80's) the line was now, "I'll sue your funny face for wrongful prosecution."
And to make the words more easily understood - "You kill my head, man" may have ambiguous meaning, but "You make me sick, man" is more straightforward.
Answer: To add the answers, generally movie studios provided edited films for TV airing. This not only includes dubbing lines that may be offensive, but deleting inappropriate scenes, editing for time, and formatting. Sometimes studios will add scenes if too many scenes were deleted to add time. The example you gave is from a 1987 film where standards are different from today. But the network or studio isn't going to re-release a newly edited version for today's audience. And it's unlikely the network would be able to play the original film without any edits.
28th Aug 2022
Rat Race (2001)
Question: Besides being played for comedic effect, would getting the coin toss wrong have really mattered?
Answer: It really would have mattered. This was over time and the winner of the coin toss gets the ball first. In 2001, NFL overtime was sudden death where a field goal wins the game. So having the ball first is a huge advantage. The messed up coin toss seems to be a joke about the 1998 Thanksgiving game between the Lions and Steelers where the ref messed up the coin toss in overtime because he heard the Steeler's player's call wrong. The Lions ended up getting the ball and winning. Not to mention that many people who bet on football games also bet on the coin toss.
28th Aug 2022
General questions
I remember seeing in the early 1970's a children's movie about a young boy who befriends a lion and his owner, an old man. In the story, a serial killer is murdering construction workers and throwing their bodies off a cliff. At the end of the movie, the lion has the serial killer trapped between two large rocks, the lion lunges, and the serial killer falls to his death off the cliff. Yes, it was a children's movie! Anybody know of it?
Answer: You're right, there was no serial killer, but he was a dangerous criminal wanted by the police. It was a Disney film. The man, the two kids are looking for, is a long-lost distant cousin of the boy. The only one he can turn to after being orphaned. When the cousin goes looking for the grandmother of the girl, the woman mistakenly believes he kidnapped the kids and calls the police. At the station the cousin sees a wanted poster of his friend, who he left in charge of the kids. He tries to convince them of this, but don't listen, he escapes and leads the police to his cabin in the forest. He finds the kids unharmed and the police take the man away. FYI, the long-lost cousin is played by Michael Douglas.
Answer: Going to throw this out there, even though I don't think there was the serial killer scene. "Napoleon and Samantha" (1972), which was Jodie Foster's film debut, is about a boy, Napoleon, who adopts a lion (with his grandfather) from an old circus clown. The boy's grandfather dies and he and his friend Samantha go looking for someone. There's a scene where the boy nearly falls off a cliff, but the lion saves him. At the end, they find the man they're looking for at his cabin. When he leaves to find Samantha's parents, he leaves them with a man who turns out to be a dangerous psychopath, but he's the one who ends up saving the children.
28th Aug 2022
General questions
I don't know what year this movie was made but I only seem to remember the ending of the movie. I remember a family staying at a house in the country, and they are all woken up one night and taken to a room downstairs. I remember a man comes in and some others follow. Then they take out some guns, and they all start shooting at the family members. I remember there was lots of blood in the scene as well especially on the wall behind them. The movie ends after but I want to know what this was from.
Answer: It was from Nicholas and Alexandra I looked it up and was able to watch the scene on YouTube. I remember the father carrying the boy because he had something wrong with one of his legs.
Answer: That is the story of Anastasia. The last Royal family to rule Russia, when the revolution came they ran hoping to reach a friendly country to ask for asylum. They were betrayed and massacred. Years later, a young girl came forward claiming to be the long-lost daughter who survived.
Answer: This is probably the 1971 movie, "Nicholas and Alexandra" about the final days of the royal Romanov family during the Russian Revolution. As pointed out, there's been a number of other films and documentaries about Czar Nicholas II (the last Russian emperor), his wife, Czarina Alexandra, and their five children who were murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918. If that's not it, this Wikipedia page might help you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_about_the_Romanovs.
Answer: This is what happened to the Russian Tsar, Nicholas II and his family in real life. There have been several films and series about him with this scene. For example, "The Romanovs: An Imperial Family" (2000) or "The Last Czars" (2019).
9th Aug 2022
Married... with Children (1987)
Question: Would Marcy even be allowed to marry Jefferson considering that she and Steve never actually got divorced?
Answer: It's implied that Steve filed for divorce since in s04e16, "You Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em", Marcy says that Steve is suing for alimony. Alimony is something that has to be requested when filing for divorce. Although the show doesn't spend time on the actual legal proceedings of their divorce.
24th Jun 2018
Death Becomes Her (1992)
Question: Why does Goldie Hawn wear odd-colored contact lenses to emphasize the fact that her character is dead, but Meryl Streep does not?
Answer: Ernest painted Madeline's eyes before she came down the stairs. He even notes that the balance in her eyes were messed up.
Answer: Actually, they're both wearing coloured contacts. If you look at timestamp 01:17:23 when they say "Pleeeaase" to Ernest, you can see they're both wearing contacts. Meryl's aren't as noticeable, but they are the bluish-purple/periwinkle colour Ernest was using when he was painting her touch-ups on the pool table.
Answer: Her eyes changed when she fell into the hot tub. They were essentially boiled.
My interpretation was that when she was shot, she completely bled out, thus all color of her skin and eyes would fade away.
But there's no blood inside eyeballs?
There are several blood vessels that supply blood to the eyeball. The cornea is the only part of the body not supplied by blood.
It wasn't a hot tub she fell into. It was a little pond. No hot water.
14th Sep 2017
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Comic Book Store Regeneration - S8-E15
Chosen answer: The main cause of her death is not specifically stated in the show, but Howard does mention that she passed away in her sleep. The cause of her death may have been something relating to her weight problems.
10th Sep 2007
Labyrinth (1986)
Question: Why doesn't Sara just hold up 5 fingers when shes at the lie/truth gate and ask how many fingers shes holding up? It seems much more simple than her way.
Answer: Sarah was allowed only one question, and asking how many fingers she was holding up would determine which one lies, but use up her only question as to which door to take.
Answer: It would have to be changed to a yes or no question. Am I holding up 5 fingers? For starters. But I think they were more specific with their rules so that she couldn't ask such an easy question.
She could ask any easy question she wanted. But the other answer explained it already. Asking an easy question to determine who's lying or telling the truth wouldn't give her any information about which door they're standing in front of, and she only gets one question.
26th Jul 2022
Mork & Mindy (1978)
Question: I may have this scenario slightly wrong, since I haven't seen it since the show was brand-new, but is there a scene in one episode where Mork (just him-no egg) falls from the sky and into a lake or some kind of body of water? I slightly remember this as a kid but wanted to see if I was right. Anyone know what episode this was from?
18th Jul 2022
Office Space (1999)
Question: Why does Joanna tell Peter that she got fired from Chotchkie's? She quit. She told her manager that she didn't need her job and walked away.
Answer: She never said she quit though. She did say she didn't need the job, but only walked away from her manager while he was talking to her. She would have been fired for flipping him and customers off (and her attitude), which Brian kind of makes fun of her for later.
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Answer: "Battle Beyond the Stars" (1980).
Bishop73