Brainteasers - Movies

The Sunday Age

Sunday January 18, 2009

Compiled by Tom Ryan

1. Writer/actress Tina Fey wrote the screenplay for (and played a supporting role in) a 2004 high school movie, adapted from Rosalind Wiseman's book, Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence. What is its name?

2. Which films feature the following lines?

(a) "Go ahead, make my day."

(b) "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

(c) "Louis, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

(d) "I'll have what she's having."

(e) "Nobody's perfect."

(f) "This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."

(g) "Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it."

(h) "What do they think I am, dumb or something? Why, I make more money than ... than ... than ... Calvin Coolidge. Put together!"

(i) "Do anythin' you've a mind to. Bein' a woman, you probably will."

(j) "You're not too smart. I like that in a man."

(k) "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

(l) "I don't know. I just went gay all of a sudden."

(m) "I'll be back."

(n) "All right, Mr DeMille. I'm ready for my close-up."

(o) "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms."

(p) "Love means never having to say you're sorry."

(q) "I'd horsewhip you, if I had a horse."

3. True or false? Gary Cooper was offered the part of Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind (1939), the role eventually given to Clark Gable.

4. What do Rip Torn, Frank Langella, Anthony Hopkins, Dan Hedaya, Philip Baker Hall and Beau Bridges have in common?

5. While Bob Dylan's music has frequently been used in films, he has composed the complete score for only one. (a) What was its name? (b) Who was the director?

6. Why did Werner Herzog eat his shoe in the short documentary, Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (1980)?

7. The directors of the following five movies made the same casting choice. What was it?

One from the Heart (1982)

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Reality Bites (1994)

Casino (1995)

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1998)

8. True or false?

(a) Peter Watkins' The War Game (1965) is a documentary about a nuclear attack on England.

(b) Gwyneth Paltrow was offered the part of Penny Lane in Almost Famous (2000), the role eventually given to Kate Hudson.

(c) Audrey Hepburn's songs in My Fair Lady (1964) were dubbed by Julie Andrews.

(d) Mike Nichols screen-tested Robert Redford for the role of Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate, the role eventually given to Dustin Hoffman.

(e) Ron Howard's Ransom (1996) is a remake of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's High and Low (1963), both based on the 1959 novel, King's Ransom, by Evan Hunter under his pen name of Ed McBain.

(f) Before it was shot by Arthur Penn, David Newman and Robert Benton's screenplay for Bonnie and Clyde (1967) was offered to New Wave French director Jean-Luc Godard.

(g) Nicole Kidman's first Australian feature was Phil Noyce's thriller, Dead Calm (1989).

9. Which female vocalist has thrice provided songs behind the opening credits for James Bond films?

10. Which star of Yes Man debuted as a vocalist in 2008? What was the name of the album? Who was the American singer-songwriter who provided creative support?

11. The mother of which famous Old Hollywood star told him he should dye his hair because it made her look so old?

12. True or false? Citizen Kane was a box-office flop on its initial release in 1941.

WIN A MOONLIGHT CINEMA SEASON PASS WORTH IN THE $100s

Win a 2009 season pass for two to Ford Fiesta Moonlight Cinema, screening a program of contemporary, cult and classic films in Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens until March 15. The winner will be able to book two tickets to any session, excluding February 14 and nights marked "no free list". The pass is also valid for Moonlight screenings in other states.

To enter, email mquizzes@theage.com.au with your answers, name, address and contact details. Emails must be marked FILM in the subject field. All questions must be answered. Entries must be received by 5pm, January 21. The winner will be drawn at random, and the prize will be awarded if all answers are correct. Entrants are allowed one winning entry only across the six quizzes.

Winners' names and solutions will be published on February 1.

© 2009 The Sunday Age

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