T r i v i a B u g | Films Quiz Questions

Films Quiz Questions

139.	Which English actor played the role of 'Nearly Headless Nick' in the first two Harry Potter movies?^New!
	John Cleese

138.	In 2003, when he was honored with a lifetime Academy Award for lifelong contribution to film, which charming actor initially hesitated (before accepting) saying that he was "enchanted...but still in the game" and would like more time to "win the lovely bugger outright"?^New!
	Peter O'Toole He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most competitive Academy Award acting nominations without a win.

137.	Which 2008 documentary film chronicles the stunt-man Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center?^New!
	Man on Wire The title of the movie is taken from the police report that led to the arrest (and later release) of Petit, whose performance had lasted for almost one hour.

136.	Hammer Film Productions, the British company which made a series films from the mid-1950s until the 1970s is best known for which genre?^New!
	Horror Hammer films had low budgets, but nonetheless appeared lavish, making use of quality British actors and cleverly designed sets. During its most successful years, Hammer dominated the horror film market, enjoying worldwide distribution and considerable financial success. The term "Hammer Horror" is often used generically to refer to other films of the period made in a similar style by different companies, such as Eros Films, Amicus and Tigon.

135.	Which 1979 movie from the Soviet Union that tells the story of three women who come to the titular city was watched by Ronald Reagan several times prior to his meetings with Mikhail Gorbachev in order for him to gain a better understanding of the 'Russian soul'?
	Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears It won the Oscar for the best foreign language film in 1980.

134.	The 2009 biographical film 'The Last Station' starring Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren, both of whom were nominated for acting oscars, is about the last year in the life of which literary figure?
	Leo Tolstoy

133.	Which American producer nicknamed 'King of the B-movies' once joked that he could make a film about the fall of the Roman Empire with two extras and a sagebrush?
	Roger Corman Corman has apprenticed many now-famous directors, stressing the importance of budgeting and resourcefulness.

132.	Which 1982 film is based on the true story of American journalist Charles Horman, who disappeared in the bloody aftermath of the US-backed Chilean coup of 1973 that deposed Leftist President Salvador Allende?
	Missing Set largely during the days and weeks following Horman's disappearance, the film depicts his father and wife searching in vain to determine his fate. It stars Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek.

131.	Which Brazilian bombshell was well known for her habit of wearing exotic headdresses adorned with fruit and also inspired the logo of Chiquita bananas?
	Carmen Miranda (1909-1955) She is often associated with her signature fruit hat outfit that she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's All Here.

130.	Which classic 1975 Australian film centres on a party of schoolgirls who vanish after being drawn toward a mysterious rock formation?
	Picnic at Hanging Rock Directed by Peter Weir, it is known for its dreamlike aura, eerie soundtrack and mysterious story.

129.	If anyone ever thought that life as was depicted in the black-and-white '50s sitcoms like 'Leave It to Beaver' and 'Father Knows Best' was idyllic and perfect, they probably need to rent out which 1998 movie that may turn this opinion upside down?
	Pleasantville It stars Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon.

128.	In the list of ten movies nominated for Best Picture in the 82nd Academy Awards, the title of one movie is entirely a part of another. Name them both.
	Up (and) Up in the Air

127.	Which 1997 science fiction drama that deals with eugenics takes its title from a combination of the initial letters of the four DNA bases of Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Thymine?
	Gattaca The film presents a vision of a society driven by liberal eugenics.

126.	If you are given the words - 'City Slickers' and push-ups, can you name the person?
	Jack Palance Four decades after his film debut, Palance won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1992 for his performance as cowboy Curly Washburn in the 1991 comedy City Slickers. Stepping onstage to accept the award, the intimidatingly fit actor looked down at the Oscar host Billy Crystal, and joked — mimicking one of his lines from the film — "Billy Crystal... I crap bigger than him." He then dropped to the floor and demonstrated his ability, at age 73, to perform one-handed push-ups. This has been part of Oscar lore ever since.

125.	'Lara's Theme' which remains to this day one of the most recognizable music themes was written for which film by the composer Maurice Jarre?
	Doctor Zhivago (1965); Lara is the film's heroine While working on the soundtrack for Doctor Zhivago, Maurice Jarre was asked by director David Lean to come up with a theme for the character of Lara, played by Julie Christie. Initially Lean had desired to use a well-known Russian song but could not locate the rights to it, and delegated responsibility to Jarre. After several unsuccessful attempts at writing it, Lean suggested to Jarre that he go to the mountains with his girlfriend and write a piece of music for her. Jarre says that the resultant piece was "Lara's Theme", and Lean liked it well enough to use it in numerous tracks for the film.

124.	After the screening of which 2009 film did the councillors of a Western Australian town vote to suspend its sister city relationship with the Japanese whaling port town of Taiji?
	The Cove The Cove is a 2009 American documentary film that describes the annual killing of dolphins in a National Park at Taiji, Wakayama, in Japan from an anti–dolphin-hunting campaigner's point of view. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film at the 82nd Academy Awards.

123.	The name of which group of comic policemen featured in the comedies of Mack Sennett in the 1910s has since come to be used to criticize any group for its mistakes, particularly if those mistakes happened after a great deal of activity?
	The Keystone Kops

122.	Which 2009 hit movie opens with the quotation 'The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug'?
	The Hurt Locker

121.	The title of which classic 1959 French film that details the life of a troubled adolescent named Antoine Doinel refers to an expression 'faire les quatre cents coups' which means 'to raise hell'?
	The 400 Blows Directed by François Truffaut, it is one of the defining films of the French New Wave. On the first American prints, subtitler and dubber Noelle Gilmore gave the film the title Wild Oats, but the distributor did not like that title, and reverted it to The 400 Blows, which led some to think the film covered the topic of corporal punishment.

120.	The 2009 Academy Award-nominated film 'Bright Star' is based on the last three years of the life of which literary luminary?
	The poet John Keats It was directed by Jane Campion, who also wrote the screenplay and was inspired by the biography of Keats by Andrew Motion. The film explores Keats' romantic relationship with Fanny Brawne. The film's title is a reference to a sonnet by Keats named "Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art", which he wrote while he was with Brawne.

119.	What word that refers to a rite of passage of male Australian Aborigines is also the title of an acclaimed 1971 British film that features an urban brother and sister in the Australian outback?
	Walkabout

118.	Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri which played a role in the early days of animation was associated with which pioneer in the 20s?
	Walt Disney Disney told interviewers later that he was inspired to draw Mickey by a tame mouse at his desk at the studio.

117.	Directed by Baz Luhrmann, the three films 'Strictly Ballroom (1992)', 'William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996)' and 'Moulin Rouge!' are called as what type of trilogy referring to their theatrical motifs?
	The Red Curtain trilogy Strictly Ballroom is based on the David and Goliath Bible story; Romeo + Juliet is based on the Shakespeare play of the same name; and Moulin Rouge! is based on the operas La Traviata and La Boheme. Each film has a thematic device through which the story is told. In Strictly Ballroom, this is the dancing, in Romeo and Juliet it is the poetry, and in Moulin Rouge! it is the music. All films use techniques seen within the Western, Musical and Romantic-Comedy movie genres. The style is meant to be heightened, and non-realistic, so that at all times the audience are aware that they are being entertained in a theatrical way.

116.	Which unforgettable 80s film character is claimed to be partially based on an arbitrageur called Ivan Boesky who gave a speech on greed at the University of California, Berkeley in 1986?
	Gordon Gecko from Wall Street Gekko was portrayed by actor-producer Michael Douglas, in a performance that won him an Oscar for Best Actor. In 2003, the AFI named him number 24 of the top 50 movie villains of all time. Gekko has become a symbol in popular culture for unrestrained greed (with the signature line, "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good"), often in fields outside corporate finance.

115.	Which 1973 film that starred a very young actress (who won an Oscar for it) was based on the novel 'Addie Pray' by Joe David Brown?
	Paper Moon The film is set during the Great Depression in the U.S. state of Kansas and it starred the real life father and daughter pairing of Ryan and Tatum O'Neal, as on-screen father and daughter Moses and Addie. Tatum O'Neal won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Addie. She is the youngest winner in the history of the Academy Awards.

114.	Which 30s and 40s actress was better known for fictional accounts of her life (especially her commitment to a mental hospital) and was played by Jessica Lange in a 1982 film?
	Frances Farmer Jessica Lange played Farmer in the 1982 film Frances, for which she was nominated for an (Best Actress). Kim Stanley was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for portraying Farmer's mother.

113.	The landmark 1960s films 'I Am Curious (Yellow)' and 'I Am Curious (Blue)' were named after the colors of the flag of which country?
	Sweden

112.	Which classic 1953 Japanese film directed by Yasujiro Ozu tells the story of a couple who travel to the city to visit their grown children and find their children are too absorbed in their own lives?
	Tokyo Story It is often regarded as Ozu's greatest masterpiece, and has twice appeared in Sight & Sound magazine's 'Top Ten' list of the greatest films ever made.

111.	A balloon 'Otto' steers a plane as an auto-pilot in which well-loved comedy/spoof made in 1980?
	Airplane! The film is a spoof of the disaster film genre, and is essentially a remake of the 1957 Paramount film Zero Hour!

110.	Which 2000 chess themed movie stars John Turturro and Emily Watson and is based on the novel 'The Defense'by Vladimir Nabokov?
	The Luzhin Defence

109.	In which 1949 classic English comedy from Ealing Studios does Alec Guinness portray 8 roles?
	Kind Hearts and Coronets It is loosely based upon the novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal (1907), by Roy Horniman. The title derives from Tennyson's poem Lady Clara Vere de Vere (1842): "Kind hearts are more than coronets, And simple faith than Norman blood."

108.	With 11 wins and 34 nominations, which country holds the record for most honors in the Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars (as of 2009)?
	France Followed closely by Italy (10 wins and 27 nominations). Note: Previously, this site listed Italy over France as the answer.

107.	Which French actor and comedian is best known for his portrayal of an irascible Italian village priest at war with the town's Communist mayor in the Don Camillo series of motion pictures?
	Fernandel In 1930, Fernandel appeared in his first motion picture and for more than forty years he would be France's top comic actor. His horse-like teeth became part of his trademark.

106.	The title of which 2007 film starring Tommy Lee Jones comes from the name of the place in the Bible where David fought with Goliath?
	In the Valley of Elah

105.	Which 2006 adaptation of a Somerset Maugham novel set in China stars Naomi Watts and Edward Norton?
	The Painted Veil This is the third screen adaption of the Maugham book, following a 1934 film starring Herbert Marshall and Greta Garbo and a 1957 version called The Seventh Sin with Bill Travers and Eleanor Parker.

104.	In which film starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr does a prospective meeting on the top of the Empire State Building assume a lot of significance?
	An Affair to Remember (1957) The movie was a remake of McCarey's 1939 film Love Affair, starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. Nora Ephron's 1993 film Sleepless in Seattle, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, was inspired by An Affair to Remember, and clips from the earlier film and its theme song are used throughout.

103.	Which 1991 film's title is derived from a song by the B-52's which the director Van Sant heard while visiting a particular US state?
	My Own Private Idaho from "Private Idaho"

102.	Disaster movies wouldn't have been the same without the Japanese producer Tomoyuki Tanaka. What is he most famously associated with?
	Godzilla movies The classic Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1954; released in the U.S. in 1956) would spawn a series of sequels, adding up to 28 films by 2004. In addition to other sci-fi thrillers such as The Mysterians (1957) and Matango (1963), Tanaka produced films directed by the acclaimed Akira Kurosawa. Their film Kagemusha (1980) was nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar and took the Palme d'Or at Cannes.

101.	Which 1995 drama film directed by Richard Linklater takes place on June 16, Bloomsday in Vienna and follows Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy) as they spend the night walking around the city?
	Before Sunrise The plot is minimalist, since aside from walking and talking, not much happens.

100.	Which 2008 film adaptation of a John Patrick Shanley stage play starred Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis, all of whom were nominated for acting Oscars at the 2009 ceremonies?
	Doubt

99.	Which 1948 Italian neorealist film directed by Vittorio De Sica tells the story of a poor man searching the streets of Rome for his stolen bicycle?
	The Bicycle Thief It was given an Academy Honorary Award in 1950, and, just four years after its release, was deemed the greatest film of all time by the magazine Sight & Sound's poll of filmmakers and critics in 1952. The film placed sixth as the greatest ever made in the latest directors poll, conducted in 2002.

98.	Since weekend box office top 10 rankings were first recorded in 1982, what are the only two Best Picture winners (1996 and 1984) to have never enter the weekend box office top 5?
	The English Patient (1996) and Amadeus (1984)

97.	The oil painting 'San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk' by Claude Monet that was painted in 1908 received substantial public attention as the focus of which John McTiernan's 1999 film remake?
	The Thomas Crown Affair

96.	Which classic 1966 film was shown in the Pentagon in 2003 with the flyer reading "How to win a battle against terrorism and lose the war of ideas. Children shoot soldiers at point-blank range. Women plant bombs in cafes. Soon the entire Arab population builds to a mad fervor. Sound familiar? The French have a plan. It succeeds tactically, but fails strategically. To understand why, come to a rare showing of this film."?
	The Battle of Algiers (by Gillo Pontecorvo) The film depicts an episode in the war of independence in then-French Algeria, in the capital city of Algiers. It reconstructs the events of November 1954 to December 1960 in Algiers during the Algerian War of Independence, beginning with the organization of revolutionary cells in the Casbah.

95.	Can you connect Jack Nicholson and the piano works - 1. Fantasy in F Minor Op.49 (Chopin) 2. Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue (Bach) 3. E-flat Maj. Concerto K.271 (Mozart) 4. Prelude Opus 28 in E Minor no. 4 (Chopin) and 5. Fantasy in D Minor K.397 (Mozart)?
	These are the pieces in his movie 'Five Easy Pieces' (1970)

94.	Monuriki is an island in the Pacific Ocean, in a group of islands known as the Mamanuca Islands. For what particular reason connected to films did it become famous after 2000?
	The Tom Hanks movie 'Cast Away' was filmed here

93.	Until 'Pirates of the Caribbean' revived the genre in 2003, the failure of which 1995 film significantly reduced Hollywood's production of piracy-themed films?
	Cutthroat Island Cutthroat Island had a budget that approached $100 million and the total U.S. gross was approximately $10 million. It also contributed to the demise of 'Carolco Pictures'.

92.	In popular culture/films, what is the term given to a situation portrayed as multiple opponents with weapons aimed at each other, such that each opponent feels equally threatened and does not believe they can strike first without endangering their own life?
	a Mexican standoff This situation occurs at the end of the movies The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Reservoir Dogs. The Mexican standoff is now considered a movie cliché due to its overuse in Spaghetti Westerns and action films.

91.	Which theory of film criticism advocated by François Truffaut holds that a director's films reflect that director's personal creative vision?
	The Auteur theory "Auteurism" is the method of analyzing films based on this theory or, alternately, the characteristics of a director's work that makes her or him an auteur. Both the auteur theory and the auteurism method of film analysis are frequently associated with the French New Wave and the film critics who wrote for the influential French film review periodical Cahiers du cinéma.

90.	Elizabeth Taylor has famously indulged in eight marriages to seven men. Who is the Welsh actor whom she married (and divorced) twice?
	Richard Burton

89.	In a 2007 interview, which actor 'animatedly' bemoaned "I hate that cat! Ever since I did that cat, I disappear. It's all about the cat. It stole everything from me."?
	Antonio Banderas He voiced Puss in Boots in Shrek, that's why!

88.	With connection to films, how do we better know the story of Jules Brunet, a French army captain who fought in the Boshin War in 19th century Japan?
	As 'The Last Samurai' The film's plot is based on a story by John Logan which is set in the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion led by Saigō Takamori. The historical roles in Japanese westernization by the United Kingdom, Germany and France are largely attributed to the United States in the film, and characters in the film and the real story are simplified for plot purposes. While it is not an accurate source of historical information, the film illustrates some major issues in Japanese history.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Samurai)

87.	Which series of documentary films directed by Michael Apted follow the lives of fourteen British children since 1964, when they were seven years old?
	The Up Series The children were selected to represent the range of socio-economic backgrounds in Britain at that time, with the explicit assumption that each child's social class predetermines their future. Every seven years, the director, Michael Apted, films new material from as many of the fourteen as he can get to participate. Filming for the next installment in the series, 56 Up, is expected in late 2011 or early 2012.

86.	When he visited Turkey in 2004, screenwriter Oliver Stone apologized for what specific reason?
	For the movie 'Midnight Express' that shows Turkey in bad light Stone admitted that he overdramatized the script. Midnight Express was adapted from the book by Billy Hayes, an American who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for attempting to smuggle hashish out of Turkey, and eventually escaped.

85.	Which 1972 film directed by Ralph Bakshi is based on the characters created by Robert Crumb and was the first animated feature film to receive an X rating in the US?
	Fritz the Cat It focuses on Fritz, an anthropomorphic feline in the mid-1960s who seduces many female animals in New York City while staying one step ahead of the law. The film is a satire focusing on American college life of the era, race relations, the free love movement, and left- and right-wing politics. Fritz the Cat was the first independent animated film to gross more than $100 million at the box office.

84.	In the 1949 movie 'The Third Man', this is a famous dialogue - "In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed — they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? XXX". Fill in XXX.
	The cuckoo clock Graham Greene, on whose book the movie is based, has conceded that this remark was not his own invention, but rather Orson Welles' contribution to the script. Welles himself admitted that he was inspired to his speech by a much smaller and older quote that implied the same from a Hungarian play.

83.	Which English comedian was a well-known film icon in Albania and was the only Western actor whose films were allowed in the country during the Communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha?
	Norman Wisdom The archetypal Wisdom plot where the common working man gets the better of his bosses was considered ideologically sound by Hoxha. In 1995, he visited the post-Stalinist country, where to his surprise he was greeted by many appreciative fans including the then-president of Albania, Sali Berisha.

82.	'40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks' is the production company of which firebrand American filmmaker who also directed commercials for Converse, Jaguar, Taco Bell and Ben & Jerry's?
	Spike Lee

81.	David Chase, the creator of which super-hit TV series called the movie 'Goodfellas' his source of inspiration?
	The Sopranos

80.	Which fictional character played on screen by Richard Rountree was created by Ernest Tidyman as an African-American answer to James Bond?
	John Shaft Samuel L. Jackson portrayed his nephew (also named John Shaft) in the 2000 version of the film. The blurb on the paperback on which the original film is based states Shaft is "Hotter than Bond, cooler than Bullitt."

79.	Maurice Binder is a famous movie title designer best known for his work on which film series?
	James Bond Binder is best known for creating the James Bond gun barrel sequence, which was achieved by using a pin hole camera shooting through a real gun barrel. He is also best known for creating the opening title credits, showing an artistic display of scantily clad and often discreetly naked females doing a variety of activities such as dancing, jumping on a trampoline, or shooting weapons. Both sequences are trademarks and staples of the James Bond films.

78.	The story of Paul Rusesabagina who saved hundreds of African lives in the 1990s has been chronicled in which Oscar-nominated movie of 2004?
	Hotel Rwanda During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Rusesabagina used his influence and connections as temporary manager of the Mille Collines to shelter over 1,260 Tutsis and moderate Hutus from being slaughtered by the Interahamwe militia.

77.	Which 1973 film, the 8th in the James Bond series was the first to cast Roger Moore as the spy?
	Live and Let Die In the early 1970s, Broccoli and Saltzman wanted to choose a new actor to portray the Bond character, to replace Sean Connery, who portrayed the Bond character in several films from the 1960s.

76.	A May 2007 survey by Britain's Sky Movies listed which 1987 movie as number one on 'Women's most-watched films' above the Star Wars trilogy, Grease, The Sound of Music, and Pretty Woman?
	Dirty Dancing The film's popularity has also caused it to be called "the Star Wars for girls."

75.	About which American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine did Roger Ebert say "She had a more positive influence on the climate for film in America than any other single person over the last three decades"?
	Pauline Kael She approached movies emotionally, with a strongly colloquial writing style. She was often regarded as the most influential American film critic of her day and made a lasting impression on other major critics.

74.	'Mammy' Two Shoes, a recurring character in MGM's Tom and Jerry cartoons was inspired by which African-American actress and singer?
	Hattie McDaniel She played 'Mammy' on 'Gone with the Wind'. As a partially-seen character in the cartoons, she was famous for never showing her head (although it is briefly visible in Saturday Evening Puss and Mouse Cleaning). Mammy's appearances have often been edited out, dubbed, or re-animated as a slim white woman in later television showings, since her character is a mammy archetype now generally regarded as racist.

73.	Which 1999 film tells the true story of a 60 Minutes television series exposé of the tobacco industry as seen through the eyes of Jeffrey Wigand?
	The Insider

72.	Which 2002 romantic comedy is the highest-grossing film to never have been number one on the weekly North American box-office charts?
	My Big Fat Greek Wedding It became a sleeper hit and grew steadily from its limited release. An independent film with a meager $5 million budget, it ultimately grossed over $368 million worldwide.

71.	Which fictional character who first appeared in the 1940 Disney film 'Pinocchio' was appointed by the Blue Fairy to serve as the official conscience for Pinocchio?
	Jiminy Cricket He is also a comical and wise partner who accompanies Pinocchio on his adventures. In the 1960s and 1970s, Jiminy Cricket appeared in numerous safety films aimed at grade-school-aged audiences. He advised children how to steer clear of dangerous traffic, sharp objects, strangers, exposed electrical lines, and so forth.

70.	Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian refugee who lived in the departure lounge of the Charles de Gaulle Airport from 1988 until 2006 may have been the basis for which 2004 movie?
	The Terminal Nasseri's life at the airport ended in July 2006 when he was hospitalized and his sitting place dismantled. Towards the end of January 2007, he left the hospital and was looked after by the airport's branch of the French Red Cross; he was lodged for a few weeks in a hotel close to the airport.

69.	Which largest privately-owned home in the United States was prominently featured in the 2001 movie 'Hannibal' among others?
	Biltmore Estate near Asheville, North Carolina This location was chosen by Ridley Scott to signify the huge personal wealth of the character Mason Verger. It built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1888 and 1895 and occupies 175,000 square feet. Still owned by Vanderbilt's descendants, it stands today as one of the most prominent remaining examples of the Gilded Age.

68.	As of 2010, which is the only non-American film to win the Academy award for Best Animated Feature?
	Spirited Away (2001-Japanese release) It is also the first anime film to win an Academy Award, and the only winner of that award to win among five nominees (in every other year there were three nominees).

67.	Which 1987 comedy film starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman as 'Rogers and Clarke' has become synonymous with a box office flop?
	Ishtar The movie ran significantly over budget in production, due largely to unanticipated problems with desert filming, and was a financial flop, generating under $13 million in revenue. Its high-profile disastrous performance at the box office is part of the film's enduring bad reputation. Ishtar was nominated for Worst Picture in the 1987 Golden Raspberry Awards.

66.	According to the British tabloid The Sun, which 1965 movie was selected by BBC executives as one to be broadcast after a nuclear strike to improve the morale of survivors?
	The Sound of Music The soundtrack album of the film was also included in the stockpile of records held in 20 underground radio stations of Great Britain's Wartime Broadcasting Service, designed to provide public information and morale-boosting broadcasts for 100 days after a nuclear attack.

65.	Which American animator, actor, writer, and producer created the hit animated television series 'Beavis and Butt-head' and 'King of the Hill' and also wrote and directed the film 'Office Space'?
	Mike Judge

64.	Which of his films did Stanley Kubrick call as overall optimistic because "anything that says there's anything after death is ultimately an optimistic story."?
	The Shining (1980)

63.	Which 1971 coming-of-age movie is based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher and is set on Nantucket Island off the coast of New England?
	Summer of '42 It tells the story of a boy in his early teens on his 1942 summer vacation where he embarked on an ill-fated, one-sided romance with a woman whose husband had gone off to fight in World War II.

62.	Rowan Atkinson plays which British comic character described as 'a child in a grown man's body'?
	Mr. Bean The character of Mr. Bean was first developed when Rowan Atkinson was studying for his PhD at Oxford University, with a sketch featuring the character first being performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in the early 1980s.

61.	Which 1984 mockumentary directed by Rob Reiner satarizes the wild personal behavior and musical pretensions of rock bands?
	This is Spinal Tap It became a common insult for a pretentious band to be told they were funnier than Spinal Tap.

60.	The title of which 2003 movie comes from the work of Dr. Duncan MacDougall who sought to measure the weight purportedly lost by a human body when the soul departed it upon death?
	21 Grams MacDougall weighed dying patients in an attempt to prove that the soul was material, tangible and thus measurable. These experiments are widely considered to have had little if any scientific merit, and although MacDougall's results varied considerably from 21 grams, for some people this figure has become synonymous with the measure of a soul's mass.

59.	What 1967 film featuring a pair on the run from the law is regarded as the first of the New Hollywood era, in that it broke many taboos and was popular with the younger generation?
	Bonnie and Clyde The film was directed by Arthur Penn, and starred Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow and Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker.

58.	Which two-time Academy Award-winning Mexican/American actor studied architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright at the latter's famous Taliesin studio?
	Anthony Quinn (1915-2001) He is perhaps best known in the US for his roles in two Hollywood films, the title role in Zorba the Greek and his Oscar-winning performance in Viva Zapata!, while in the rest of the world he is associated with his role of the brutish circus strongman Zampanò in Federico Fellini's La Strada.

57.	In 'The Matrix' film trilogy, the hovercraft of Morpheus is named after which ancient ruler of Babylon?
	Nebuchadnezzar

56.	A landmark legislation in the 1930s in the US that is designed to protect a child actor's earnings by depositing some of them in trust funds was named after which 'kid'?
	Jackie Coogan As a child star (famous in 'The Kid' with Chaplin), Coogan earned as much as $4 million, but the money was taken by his mother Lilian and step-father Arthur Bernstein for cocaine and heroin. He sued them in 1935, but only received $126,000. The legal battle did, however, bring attention to child actors and resulted in the state of California enacting the California Child Actor's Bill, sometimes known as the Coogan Bill or the Coogan Act. This requires that the child's employer set aside 15% of the child's earnings in a trust, and codifies such issues as schooling, work hours and time-off.

55.	What is the world's largest film festival that is open to the general public?
	The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Held in Toronto, Canada, it is widely considered to be one of the top film festivals in the world. It is the premiere film festival in North America from which the Oscars race begins. Quoted by the National Post in 1999, Roger Ebert claimed "...although Cannes is still larger, Toronto is more useful and more important...."

54.	Which 2004 sci-fi film starring Vin Diesel was a sequel to 'Pitch Black' and received poor reviews from film critics who called it 'Riddickulous'?
	The Chronicles of Riddick

53.	In the 1984 adventure film 'Romancing the Stone' set in Columbia, what type of precious mineral is the 'Stone'?
	An emerald Even if you haven't see the film, just the fact that it is set in Columbia should give you a hint that it is an emerald.

52.	During the shooting of the 1981 movie 'Reds', Warren Beatty lectured his Russian extras on the capitalist exploitation of labour, attempting to inspire them. In 2004, why did the magazine 'Total Film' call it the 4th dumbest decision in movie history?
	The extras went on strike, demanding higher wages! The film centers on the life of John Reed, the Communist, journalist, and writer who chronicled the Russian Revolution in his book 'Ten Days that Shook the World'.

51.	The 2005 movie 'The Interpreter' was the first to be officially filmed inside the UN buildings. However, which Hitchcock's classic tale of mistaken identity features an illegally filmed scene of Cary Grant exiting a taxi and entering the UN building?
	North by Northwest (1959) At the time, the United Nations prohibited film crews from shooting around its New York City headquarters. In an example of guerrilla filmmaking, Hitchcock used a movie camera hidden in a parked van to film the scene.

50.	Which 2005 movie starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn that deals with African politics has been banned by President Mugabe of Zimbabwe?
	The Interpreter There are strong parallels between the movie and the real country of Zimbabwe. Among others, the name of the fictional country of Matobo is an apparent reference to the name of the Matobo National Park in Zimbabwe.

49.	Which 1975 cult movie has taken in over $139 million since its release making it the highest grossing movie to have never played in more than 1,000 theatres at the same time?
	The Rocky Horror Picture Show The length of its run in cinemas (weekly for over 30 years) combined with its considerable total box office gross is unparalleled by any other film. The Museum Lichtspiele in Munich, Germany has been screening the movie without interruption since September 19th, 1975, and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. The Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has the longest running United States engagement, having shown the movie since January, 1978.

48.	On which 1953 film poster are Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr sharing a passionate kiss on a beach?
	From Here to Eternity The famous beach scene was lampooned in the movie 'Airplane!', where Robert Hays' and Julie Hagerty's characters become covered in seaweed.

47.	What was the first name of a prominent character in a 90's blockbuster who had different middle & last names of Dewitt Bukater and Dawson Calvert?
	Rose from 'Titanic' (1997) Played by Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart, both of whom were nominated for Oscars.

46.	Before being made famous by Scorsese in 'The Aviator', Howard Hughes was also the idea behind the character of Willard Whyte in which James Bond movie?
	Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

45.	In which film does Kevin Spacey portray the serial killer John Doe?
	Se7en (1995)

44.	Which 2007 film starring Chris Cooper is based on the story of Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union?
	Breach

43.	In film language, what is a 'MacGuffin'?
	A plot device that motivates the characters and/or advances the story, but has no other relevance The director and producer Alfred Hitchcock popularized both the term and the technique. He explained it as: "It is the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is most always the necklace and in spy stories it is most always the papers."

42.	Referring to a character in which film did Malcolm X say "When Butterfly McQueen went into her act, I felt like crawling under the rug."?
	Gone with the Wind He was referring to the stereotypical portrayal of black characters in the film.

41.	Who is the first actress to win two Academy Awards before the age of 30?
	Luise Rainer (1910- ) For 'The Great Ziegfeld' (1936) and 'The Good Earth' (1937). However, she would later remark that by winning two consecutive Oscars, "nothing worse could have happened to me", as audience expectations from then on would be too high to fulfill. Some film historians consider her the "most extreme case of an Oscar victim in Hollywood mythology".(Many thanks to Appalling Gael for pointing out that it is not Jodie Foster (who became the second person to do it).)

40.	The title of which 1966 film comes from the last line in the dialog which expresses that if one had enough time and money, it would be possible to follow a season around the world making it everlasting?
	The Endless Summer When the movie was first shown, it encouraged many surfers to go abroad, giving birth to the "surf-and-travel" culture, which prizes finding "uncrowded surf", meeting new people, and finding the perfect wave. It also introduced the sport, which had become popular outside of Hawaii and the Polynesian Islands in places like California and Australia, to a broader audience.

39.	Which 1972 movie musical has the distinction of winning the most Oscars (eight) without winning the Best Picture award?
	Cabaret It lost to 'The Godfather'. In 2006 this film ranked #5 on the American Film Institute's list of best musicals.

38.	According to the Guinness Book of World Records, what is the most watched TV show in the world of all time?
	Baywatch It has over 1.1 billion viewers a week.

37.	What is the acclaimed Japanese film studio headed by Hayao Miyazaki that is responsible for animated classics like 'Princess Mononoke' and 'Spirited Away'?
	Studio Ghibli Its name derives from the nickname the Italians used for their Saharan scouting planes in the Second World War, which derived from the Libyan word for hot wind blowing through the Sahara Desert (also known as sirocco). The company's logo features the character Totoro from the film 'My Neighbor Totoro'.

36.	In 1966, which scientist was asked to contribute an interview to a proposed introduction to the film '2001: A Space Odyssey'? He wasn't offered Billions and Billions though!
	Carl Sagan According to an unsourced anecdote in 'The Independent', Sagan "responded by saying that he wanted editorial control and a percentage of the film's takings, which was rejected."

35.	Which silent film released in 1922 is considered the first feature-length documentary?
	Nanook of the North by Robert J. Flaherty Flaherty captured the struggles of the Inuit Nanook and his family in the Canadian arctic. But Flaherty has been criticised for deceptively portraying staged events as reality. Much of the action was staged and gives an inaccurate view of real Inuit life during the early 20th century.

34.	Which military doctrine is central to the plot of the 1964 Stanley Kubrick film 'Dr. Strangelove'?
	MAD or Mutually Assured Destruction It is a doctrine of military strategy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by one of two opposing sides would effectively result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender. It is based on the theory of deterrence according to which the deployment of strong weapons is essential to threaten the enemy in order to prevent the use of the very same weapons. The strategy is effectively a form of Nash Equilibrium, in which both sides are attempting to avoid their worst possible outcome — nuclear annihilation.

33.	Often regarded as one of the most gifted persons in his field, who provided the voice for iconic characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Barney Rubble among hundreds of others?
	Mel Blanc (1908 - 1989) Blanc's will stated his desire to have the inscription on his gravestone read, "THAT'S ALL FOLKS", considered by some to be one of the most famous epitaphs in the world.

32.	In 2003, the American Film Institute came out with a list of 100 Heroes and Villians. Which lawyer and psycho doctor topped the list in each respective category?
	Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mocking Bird) and Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs)

31.	In the movie 'Rainman', what airline does Raymond insist on flying as it has a perfect safety record?
	Qantas While the airline's safety record is respected around the world, the safety fact is that the company has never lost a jet airliner and not any kind of plane. Between 1927 and 1951, Qantas had eight fatal accidents with the loss of 62 people. Half of these accidents occurred during World War II, when the Qantas aircraft were operating on behalf of the Royal Australian Air Force.

30.	Truman Capote, who sold the film rights of his novella to Paramount Studios, wanted Marilyn Monroe to play the role of Holly Golightly. But when X was cast instead of Marilyn, Capote remarked: "Paramount double-crossed me in every way and cast X". Who is X and what is the novella/movie?
	Audrey Hepburn in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' Wisp-thin Hepburn as Holly, carrying a cigarette holder, is considered one of the iconic images of 20th century American cinema.

29.	'Q' is a popular character in James Bonds' movies, played mostly by Desmond Llewelyn. What does 'Q' stand for?
	Quartermaster

28.	Which 1988 movie tells the true-life story of naturalist Dian Fossey and her work with gorillas?
	Gorillas in the Mist Dian Fossey (1932 – 1985) was an American Zoologist who completed an extended study of several gorilla groups. She observed them daily for years in the mountain forests of Rwanda, initially encouraged to work there by famous paleontologist Louis Leakey. Her work is somewhat similar to Jane Goodall's work with chimpanzees. Fossey was found murdered in the bedroom of her cabin in 1985.

27.	Which period film of Stanley Kubrick that recounts the exploits of a 18th century Irish adventurer is loosely based on a novel of William Makepeace Thackeray?
	Barry Lyndon Ryan O'Neal stars as the title character. Although the film was only a modest commercial success at the time, and had a mixed critical reception, in recent years it has come to be regarded not only as one of Kubrick's finest films, but also as a classic of world cinema.

26.	Spoiler Alert! Stop reading this question if you haven't seen 'The Shawshank Redemption'. In the climax of that movie, which bombshell's poster does warden Norton rip to reveal the umm, secret behind the escape of Andy Dufresne?
	Raquel Welch Andy Dufresne first starts his task when he has the poster of Rita Hayworth on his cell wall.

25.	Which 1985 film starring Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, and John Candy has a cult following among many generations of Peace Corps personnel?
	Volunteers

24.	The 1997 gay-comedy 'In and Out' was inspired by Tom Hanks's speech when he accepted his 1994 Oscar for his role in 'Philadelphia'. What did Hanks do?
	He outed his high-school drama coach and his former classmate with "two of the finest gay Americans, two wonderful men that I had the good fortune to be associated with."

23.	What Jordanian site once described as a rose-red city half as old as time is featured in the movie 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' as the location of the Holy Grail?
	Petra It is an archaeological site, lying in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Wadi Araba, the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is famous for having many stone structures carved into the rock. The long-hidden site was revealed to the Western world by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.

22.	Burkittsville in Maryland, USA gained notoriety in 1999 after the release of which 'fake real' film that supposedly took place there?
	The Blair Witch Project Contrary to popular belief, however, the majority of the film was not filmed in Burkittsville, and the events depicted in the film and the legend of the Blair Witch itself were entirely fabricated by the producers themselves. The majority of the film was shot in the state of Virginia, with parts filmed in Maryland.

21.	What term that has been described as 'Remembering the future' is also a 'glitch' that occurs when the machines alter an aspect of the Matrix in the movie?
	Deja Vu This is seen when the protagonist, Neo, sees a black cat walk by twice.

20.	Which chilling 1968 film is set in Bramford apartment building in New York City?
	Rosemary's Baby Outside shots of the movie's Bramford apartment building were in fact The Dakota, the future home of the main lead Mia Farrow's friend John Lennon, and his wife and son, Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon. Director Roman Polanski filmed the exteriors for Rosemary's Baby at the Dakota; however, the interiors were created in a Hollywood soundstage. The building does not allow filming inside.

19.	Which classic film contains the scene that depicts the massacre of civilians on the Odessa Steps by the Russian Tsar's Cossacks?
	'The Battleship Potemkin' by Sergei Eisenstein Toward the end of the sequence, the soldiers shoot a mother who is pushing a baby carriage. She falls to the ground, and as she dies she accidentally kicks the carriage away; it rolls down the steps alongside the frightened crowd. This scene has been endlessly referenced in many motion pictures, with famous homages occurring in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, Brian De Palma's version of The Untouchables, and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (except the troopers marched up the stairs).

18.	How do we know the diminutive Verne Troyer better?
	As 'Mini-Me' in the Austin Powers' franchise It is most commonly believed that Mini-Me was inspired by Nick Nack, the little henchman of the film version of Francisco Scaramanga, the eponymous villain of the James Bond novel 'The Man with the Golden Gun'.

17.	Tataouine in Tunisia was the setting for many scenes in the movies of which blockbuster franchise?
	Star Wars Four of the Star Wars films (The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope) were partly filmed here. George Lucas notably usef the name 'Tatooine' for the home planet of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker.

16.	Anna Wintour, the editor of 'Vogue' was the inspiration for the character of Miranda Priestly in which surprise hit film of 2006?
	The Devil Wears Prada (the character of Miranda Priestly was played by Meryl Streep) Although the movie is set in the fashion world, most designers and other fashion notables avoided appearing as themselves for fear of arousing the wrath of the powerful Anna Wintour. Wintour later overcame her initial skepticism, saying she liked the film and Streep in particular.

15.	Which 2000 film tells the fictional story of a teenage journalist writing for the Rolling Stone magazine while covering the rock band Stillwater?
	Almost Famous It was written and directed by Cameron Crowe. The film is semi-autobiographical, as Crowe himself was a teenage writer for Rolling Stone. The film is based on Crowe's experiences touring with rock bands The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

14.	Which is the only Hitchcock film to be remade by himself?
	The Man Who Knew Too Much The remake is in colour and stars Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day. Hitchcock considered his remake to be superior, saying that the 1934 version was the work of a talented amateur, while the 1956 version was the work of a professional.

13.	In the movie Jaws, what is the the name of the boat the trio use to hunt down the beast?
	Orca

12.	Who are Kambei Shimada, Katsushiro Okamoto, Gorobei Katayama, Shichiroji, Kyuzo, Heihachi Hayashida, and Kikuchiyo?
	The Seven Samurai Seven Samurai is usually regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, and is one of a select few Japanese films to become widely known in the West for an extended period of time. It follows the story of a village of farmers that hire seven masterless samurai warriors to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops.

11.	Which epic 1960's film is unique in the sense that the only female featured in the entire film is a camel named Gladys?
	Lawrence of Arabia It is unique in being the only film to win the Best Film award without containing a single female speaking role.

10.	Which fictional island is the home of King Kong?
	Skull island In King Kong, Skull Island is a long island, located at approximately 90 degrees East and 2 degrees South - somewhere off the coast of Sumatra. There is a distinctive rocky knoll in the center of the island which is shaped like a human skull, hence its foreboding name.

9.	Who created 'Star Trek'?
	Gene Roddenberry Star Trek originated as a television series in 1966, starring William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk (originally James R. Kirk), and told the tale of the crew of the starship Enterprise and that crew's five-year mission 'to boldly go where no man has gone before.'

8.	In which award winning 1990 movie is much of the dialog in the Lakota language?
	Dances With Wolves Dances with Wolves is a 1990 epic film which tells the story of a United States cavalry officer in the 1860s who befriends a band of Sioux, sacrificing his career and ties to his own people.

7.	Which brothers are known in the film business as 'the two-headed director'?
	The Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan They have have written and directed numerous successful films, such as the comedies 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?', 'Raising Arizona' and 'The Big Lebowski', and have also become notorious for blurring the line between drama and comedy with movies like 'Fargo', 'The Man Who Wasn't There', and 'Barton Fink'. The pair are frequently credited on their own films as editor under the name "Roderick Jaynes".

6.	Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming, USA features prominently in which landmark science fiction film?
	Close Encounters of the Third Kind Tribes including the Arapaho, Crow, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Lakota, and Shoshone have had cultural and geographical ties to the monolith long before European and early American immigrants reached Wyoming.

5.	Charlie Chaplin once called him 'the greatest comedian in the world' and he is referred to as the 'Charlie Chaplin of Mexico'. Name this star who is wildly successful in Spanish-speaking Latin America?
	Cantinflas Born Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes on August 12, 1911, he was a comedian of the Mexican theatre and film industry. His interpretation of Cantinflas, a character originating in the pelado, the impoverished campesino slum-dweller that came to represent the national identity of Mexico, earned him popularity with the common people that he was able to parlay into a long, successful film career that included a foray into Hollywood.

4.	During her state visit to Beijing in the 1980's, Queen Elizabeth II was unable to visit the Forbidden City because of a specific reason. Why?
	'The Last Emperor' was being shot there and the production was given priority over the queen by the Chinese authorities

3.	'Leave The Gun, Take The Cannoli'. Enough said, which movie?
	The Godfather

2.	What is the name of the unforgettable character played by Sigourney Weaver in 'Alien'? As a bonus, also name the spaceship.
	Ellen Ripley; Nostromo

1.	'Midnight Cowboy' was the first X-rated movie to win the Oscar for best picture. But what 1971 film was the first R-rated movie to have won the coveted award?
	The French Connection

[Top]