The AnswerBank Articles

Who was the brains behind Dallas

A. Dallas started almost by accident. Lorimar Television had had the actress Linda Evans under contract for some time, and an untitled project to use her in some way was gathering dust. It was passed00:00 Mon 15th Apr 2002

What's all this fuss about Aboriginal movies

A. It used to be received wisdom in Australia is that no one really wanted films about the country's Aboriginal population. Too controversial - after all, they used to own the place! But three young00:00 Mon 01st Apr 2002

What's the link between modern movie sets and historical art

A. Today's movies with digital technology and hand-held cameras is the closest we have ever come to cinema that walks and talks (and pretty soon, smells). Mainstream film-makers strive to make00:00 Mon 01st Apr 2002

Who were this year's Oscar winners

A. This year's Academy Awards will be remembered as the year Hollywood honoured its African American actors. The biggest cheers of the 74th Academy Awards were reserved for Woody Allen and Sidney00:00 Mon 25th Mar 2002

How does Hollywood handle facial disfigurement

A. CInema has had a difficult relationship with disfigurement since the early days. The first horror films of the 1920s dreamt up monsters such as Lon Chaney in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and00:00 Mon 25th Mar 2002

Tell me about the history of Australian film-making

A. It's true some of the best known celebrities at the moment - Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis - are all Australians. Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge was shot on Australian00:00 Mon 25th Mar 2002

Who controls film censorship in the UK - and what can't be shown

A. Local borough and county councils have, for the most part, the power to allow any cinema to show any film. In practice, the councils almost always follow the ratings given by the British Board of00:00 Mon 25th Mar 2002

What are the best internet sites for TV fans

A. Message boards, episode summaries and obsessive homages provide intelligence to viewers who end up knowing the shows better than the producers and they add value to fan culture. Television00:00 Mon 18th Mar 2002

Who created Bugs Bunny

A. Animator Chuck Jones first drew Bugs Bunny and his pals Daffy Duck and the Road Runner. Jones, who died this year aged 89, got a job after art school as an animator in the studio of former Disney00:00 Mon 18th Mar 2002

What is the role of the Film Council

A. The Film Council was set up 18 months ago to encourage new talent in the UK. It has a development fund of 5 million a year to foster new writing and emulate the success of the days of the Ealing00:00 Mon 18th Mar 2002

What's the best Vietnam film -

A. Hollywood has been fascinated by the horrors of Vietnam for years. Film-makers only began to look at the war once it was over. John Wayne's The Green Beret in 1968 was slaughtered by the critics,00:00 Mon 11th Mar 2002

Where are the best independent cinemas in the UK

A. There are dozens of independent cinemas still in existence up and down the country. In the coming month alone, Manchester's Cornerhouse hosts a Spanish film festival and Edinburgh's Filmhouse a00:00 Mon 11th Mar 2002

How are the Oscars decided

A. The 5,607 members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences are responsible for the nominating the voting of the Academy Awards. The members include past winners, directors, actors and00:00 Mon 11th Mar 2002

Why are so many books being turned into films

A. Hollywood is always hungry for new ideas and keeps a close eye on the bestsellers lists. Literary hits are being snapped up as a new way to draw in the crowds. David Hare has already been signed00:00 Mon 04th Mar 2002

Why are early copies of Dr Who so valuable

A. Collectors have worked up an appetite for early episodes of Dr Who ever since the BBC started its mass culling of Dr Who reels. The corporation called it 'de-accessioned' and it's been under fire00:00 Mon 04th Mar 2002

Where can I download latest movies on the internet

A. There are several sites where you can download films and TV shows. Launched 10 months ago after the demise of Napster, MusicCity's Morpheus has become the most popular place on the internet to00:00 Mon 04th Mar 2002

What is treviso in a salad

A. The market gardeners of the Veneto region of Italy excel at cultivating the red leaves of the chicory family. Over the last four centuries, they have produced variations such as ruby-coloured00:00 Mon 04th Mar 2002

Who were the brains behind M*A*S*H

A. M*A*S*H - life in the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, where hurried surgery was performed - was set in Korea in 1950, but was really about Vietnam in the 1970s.The programme was devised by00:00 Mon 25th Feb 2002

Just how much cash has been made from Pop Idol - and who gets it

A. Pop Idol's creator, Simon Fuller, stands to make at least 10 million from the sale of the smash hit television format to the US. And when revenue from sponsorship, phone lines for voting, and00:00 Mon 25th Feb 2002

Why has it taken Hollywood so long to come up with a film about John Nash

A. The schizophrenic, Nobel prize-winning mathematician John Nash, revealed in Ron Howard's In A Beautiful Mind, lives up to Hollywood's idea of a genius - brilliant mind, but tortured personality. 00:00 Mon 25th Feb 2002