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For Halloween - Universal Movie Monsters

One question, with a few moving parts, for you Monster Movie Geniuses.

Name the actor who played four of the classic Universal monsters in a period of two years (Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, the Mummy and the Wolfman.) Name the actor and the films in which he first played those four characters.

Happy Halloween!

FOR NO GOOD REASON…QUESTIONS ABOUT OSCAR WINNERS FOR BEST SONG

For every question there is more than one answer. The more songs you can name, the better. Give yourself a point for each song you name that fits.

1) Best Song with a celestial body in the title.

2) Best Song with a title in a language other than English (nonsense words don’t count.)

3) Beat Song with nonsense words in the title.

4) Best Song with the name of a city in the title.

5) Best Song with a time of day in the title.

Wish Ivan Reitman a Happy Birthday Tomorrow (10/27)

Tuesday is the birthday of the director of many of our more quotable films, Ivan Reitman. So today’s task is simple. I’ll give a movie quote, and you name the Ivan film it comes from. Of course, some of these are tougher than others. But then, you’re a movie genius, aren’t you?

1) “Attention. Here's an update on tonight's dinner. It was veal. I repeat, veal. The winner of tonight's mystery meat contest is Jeffrey Corbin who guessed "some kind of beef."

2) “And we're walking, and we're walking, and we're stopping.”

3) “Last night as I was grading papers, I came across two gems both entitled "Cells are Bad" and both with just one paragraph which I unfortunately committed to memory: "Cells are bad. My uncle lives in a cell. It's ten foot by twelve and he has to read the same boring, old magazine everyday. The end." Although my standards are nowhere near where they used to be I could not bring myself to put A’s atop those beauties.”

4) “It's not a tumor!” (Pronounced “Toomer”)

5) “Of course not, and that is the whole problem with aliens is you just can't trust them. Occasionally you meet a nice once: Star Man, E.T... But usually they turn out to be some kind of big lizard!”

6) “Lighten up, Francis.”

7) “Let me shake hands with the man who would be Mom.”

8) “You're more like a game show host.”

9) “Thank you for the cookies. I look forward to tossing them.”

10) “That look in your eyes... pure blue steel.”

Characters from TV to Movies

Switching things up today, I’ll give the name of the actor who played a character in TV series, and if you are a movie genius, you’ll be able to name the actor who played the character when brought to the big screen.

1) Ernest Borgnine played Lt. Commander Quinton McHale in the TV show “McHale’s Navy”, who played the character in the 1997 movie?

2) June Lockhart (Lassie’s foster mom) played Maureen Robinson in the TV show “Lost in Space”, who played the character in the 1998 film?

3) Ross Martin played Artemus Gordon in the TV show “Wild, Wild West”, who played the character in the 1999 movie?

4) Florence Henderson played Carol Brady in the TV show “The Brady Brunch”, who played her in the 1995 movie?

5) Buddy Ebsen played Jed Clampett in the movie “The Beverly Hillbillies”, who played him in the 1993 movie? (Bonus genius points if you can remember which Oscar winning actor played a Clampett in the film.)

Characters: Movie to TV (Part II)

For the second time this week, we tell you the name of the actor who played a character in a movie and if you are a Movie (& TV) genius you’ll know who played the character on TV.

1) Loretta Young played Katrin Holstrom in the movie “The Farmer’s Daughter”, who played Katrin on the TV show of the same name?

2) Everyone knows Humphrey Bogart played Rick Blaine in the movie “Casablanca”, but who played him in the 1983 TV show?

3) Jim Carry played Lloyd in the movie “Dumb and Dumber” but who provided the voice for the animated show based on the movie?

4) Roy Scheider played the helicoper pilot, Frank Murphy, in the movie “Blue Thunder” but who played the part on the TV show?

5) Yul Brynner played the part of Chris in the movie “The Magnificent Seven”, but who played the part in the TV show?

Characters: Movie to TV

Here's a game we could play all week....In fact, we will. I'll name a character from a movie that was adapted into a TV show. Today, I'll name the actor from the movie and if you are a Movie Genius, you'll know who played the character on TV. We might switch it around on quizes later this week.

1) Jack Lemmon played Felix Unger in the movie "The Odd Couple", who played him on TV?

2) Cary Grant played Lt. Com. Matthew Sherman in the movie "Operation Petticoat", who played him on TV?

3) Jennifer Grey played Jeannie Bueller in the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", who played her on TV?

4) Gene Tierney played Mrs. Muir in the movie "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir", who played her on TV?

5) Walter Pidgeon played Adm. Nelson in the movie "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", who played him on TV?

In Honor of Angela Lansbury's 84th Birthday

Today is the great actress’ birthday, so a simple game in her honor. At least to me, in her early films and a way into career, Ms. Lansbury always seemed older than she really was. Until the day came when she always seems younger than she really is. So if the Great Lady ever comes across this site, I hope she is not offended by this game of older younger. I’ll name a film and a co-star from that film. If you are a movie genius, you will know whether that person is (was) older or younger than Ms. Lansbury. Off we go:

1) “Gaslight” (1944) – Ingrid Bergman (was Angela younger or older?)

2) “The Harvey Girls” (1946) – Judy Garland

3) “The Court Jester” (1955) – Glynis Johns

4) “The Long, Hot Summer” (1958) – Joanne Woodward

5) “Blue Hawaii” (1961) – Elvis

6) “The Manchurian Candidate” (1962) – Laurence Harvey

7) “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” (1971) – David Tomlinson

8) “Sweeney Todd” (1982 – made for TV) – George Hearn

9) “The Pirates of Penzenze” (1983) – Kevin Kline

10) “Beauty and the Beast” (1991) – Jerry Orbach

DAY AND NIGHT

For each clue, think of a film title with ‘Day’ that fits the clue and a film with ‘Night’ in the title that fits the clue.

For instance, the clue might be, directed by Francois Truffaut. Then for the film with ‘Day’ title you could say ‘Day for Night’. And for the film with ‘Night’ in the title you could say, ‘Day for Night’. But it won’t always be this easy. For the five clues below, you will probably have to come up with two separate titles.

1) Directed by George Romero

2) Starring the Marx Brothers

3) Starring Sylvester Stallone

4) Starring Richard Burton

5) Directed by Fred Zinnemann

Name in the Title

Each puzzle has several titles with missing words. Your job, fill the words in the title. Then take the first letters of the words used to fill in the blanks. Unscramble them to find actor in all of the films.
(For example: “The Year of _______ Dangerously”, “Mad ____” and “____ of Darkness” [in production] – would be Living, Max and Edge – MEL for Mel Gibson)

1) “A Few Good ____”
“The Color ____ Money”
“______ Gun”

2) “The _________ Queen”
“Kid __________”
“The ______ Sleep”
“Knock ____ Any Door”
“_______ Drive By Night”
“The __________ Twenties”

3) “Sexy ________”
"Lucky ________ Slevin”
“Tuck ___________”

4) “Air Force _____”
“Blade _________”
“The ________ Own”
“______ Ten from Navarone”

5) “Dark _________”
“The Man Who Came to ________”
“The Corn _____ Green”
“Hush…Hush _______ Charolette”
“All ______ Eve”

MOVIE MATH

There are those who think a movie genius doesn’t need to know numbers, which just isn’t true. The numbers have been dropped from most of the titles. You must fill in the numbers to do the math problem.

For instance “Snow White and the _____ Dwarfs” (Disney’s first animated feature) plus “___” (animated post-apocalyptic feature released on 9/9/09) = ?

The answer would be ‘16’. (Seven plus 9)

So back to math class –

1) “The Last Angry Man” (Paul Muni, 1959) plus “_____ Angry Men” (Henry Fonda, 1957) times “______ Angry Men” (Raymond Massey, 1955) =

2) “The Scent of a Woman” (Al Pacino Oscar Winner) plus “____ Women” (Sophia Loren Oscar Winner) times “______ Women” (Shelly Duvall BAFTA and Cannes Winner) =

3) “_____ Graves to Cairo” (Billy Wilder directed) minus “Cradle ___ the Grave” (Andrzej Bartowiak directed) times “Plan ___ from Outer Space” (aka “Grave Robbers from Outer Space”) =

4) “____ Hours” (Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte) minus “____ Hours” (James Gardner and Rod Taylor) plus “Another ____ Hours” (Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte) =

5) “(____) Days of Summer” (2009 – contemporary romance) minus “_____” (2006 – historical action) times “How to Lose a Guy in ____ Days” (2003 – lousy romance)

Last Films

Last year, Clint Eastwood made what he said would be his last film as an actor, “Grand Torino”. There something to be said for an actor going out on this on terms with a solid film. The films listed below are all remembered as decent to classic. If you are a movie genius, you’ll also remember which actor had the film as his swan song, his last theatrical release.

(The films are listed in alphabetical order. As a bonus, if you are a movie genius, you could put them in chronological order.)

1) “The Carpetbaggers”

2) “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”

3) “The Harder They Fall”

4) “The Iceman Cometh”

5) “Mister Roberts”

6) “On Golden Pond”

7) “Ride the High Country”

8) “The Shootist”

9) “S.O.B.”

10) “Walk Don’t Run”

TRIPLE FEATURE

Here at the Big Hollywood Bijou, we always show triple features so you get your money’s worth. The only problem is we run out of letters for the marquee. So we try to put together titles wherein letters can do double duty.

For example, instead of advertising;
“Flower Drum Song
Song of the South
South Pacific”
Our marquee would read: “Flower Drum Song of the South Pacific”

To tell what’s playing next, we’ll give the marquee word count followed by three clues. You have to figure out the movies’ titles. Happy viewing!

1) 9 Words – Coen Brother’s 2001 noir with Billy Bob Thornton; Daniel Day-Lewis won a 2007 Oscar for his oily performance; this Coen feature was their first feature film

2) 8 Words – A kid lets the whale go; we’re talking the Gene Wilder classic, not the Johnny Depp remake; I’d be surprised if you saw this 2006 docudrama about socialite Edie Sedgwick and Andy Warhol

3) 9 Words – Amy Ryan won an Oscar for this Ben Affleck feature; producer David Selznick paid $5000 for the use of a profanity; Pythons Jones, Idle, Palin and Cleese worked together on this adaptation of the Kenneth Grahame children’s classic

4) 15 Words – Keanu Reeves starred in the 2008 remake of the 1951 Robert Wise classic; Meryl Streep was patient with psychiatrist Roy Scheider in this 1982 thriller; the only film based on a Vicki Lawrence hit single

5) 12 words – Sean Connery doesn’t attempt a Russian accent and Alec Baldwin doesn’t seem to care; Homer Hickam’s true story rockets to the screen; Lawrence Olivier had been dead 15 years when he joined Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow in this CGI epic

6) 9 words – In 2008, the star of “Shawn of the Dead” was directed by a “Friend” to be in a marathon; “Jason Bourne’s girlfriend” has 20 minutes to get money to her boyfriend – don’t worry, she gets more than one chance; Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster are not “sub” par in this WWII flick

7) 6 words – Ben Gates obviously wants to be Indiana Jones in this film and its sequel; Wallace Berry, Robert Newton, and Orson Welles, among others, have strapped on the peg leg to tell this classic Stevenson tale; the line “The natives are getting restless” has its origins in this 1932 telling of the H. G. Wells thriller

8) 9 words – The story of Theodore Geisel’s beloved pachyderm; Toon Town is where you can finally see Daffy and Donald Duck together; Bugs Bunny should have been stopped by this Australian barrier

9) 9 words – Elvis is a lover, not a Civil War fighter; Jason Robards has one of the worst names in all of cinema in this Fitzgerald adaption - Dr. Richard “Dick” Diver; Richard Burton is your tour guide in Mexico (watch out for the nocturnal reptiles)

10) 6 words – This 1978 film is not a remake of the 1943 film of the same name but rather 1941’s “Here Comes Mr. Jordan”; don’t you hate it when there’s heroin in your dolly?; we see the first half of this film through Humphrey Bogart’s eyes.

The Movie Want Ads

With the unemployment rate as it is these days, people are looking everywhere for work, even at fictional companies. The problem is to locate the company in the proper fictional world. Can you remember in which film the following businesses appear?

So look through the movie want ads:

1) Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems

Negotiators for Defense Contracts – Need for intercultural relationship skills

2) Shenaniganz Restaurant Chain

Servers needed, must know 5 second rule

3) The Daily Bugle

Photographer needed; bonus for vigilant shots

4) Initech Software

Engineers needed to prepare for Y3K

5) World Wide Wicket Company

Mailroom help needed; opportunity for advancement

6) Maxford House Coffee Company

Advertising copy writer for holiday season

7) Capitol Pictures

Screenwriters needed – must be willing to compromise principals

8) The Tredway Corporation

Senior executive needed, some opera backstabbing skills a must

9) Zevo Toys

Toy models needed

10) Federal Broadcasting System

Researchers needed, must be familiar with new fangled “computers”

11) The Union Broadcasting System

Participants for reality show (terrorists skills a must)

EVERY SUPER HERO WILL HAVE A MOVIE FRANCHISE, SO WHY NOT A GAME ABOUT THEM

SUPER HERO COSTUME PARTY The employees of the Puzzletown Comic Book Store threw a costume party. Alex, Blair, Glenn, Jordan, Kerry, Morgan, Robin, and Sam attended, each dressed as a Super Hero.
These comic book characters were represented: Batman (Bruce Wayne), Captain America (Steve Rodgers), Daredevil (Matt Murdock), The Flash (Barry Allen), Spiderman (Peter Parker), Storm (Ororo Munroe), Superman (Clark Kent), and Wonder Woman (Diana Prince).

The costumes were so good, party-goers had a hard time telling who was who. But you can figure it out with these clues:

1) Jordan, Morgan, Robin, and Sam came as characters from DC comics

2) Alex, Jordan and Morgan came as characters that did not wear masks

3) Glenn and Morgan came as characters that worked for the media

4) Alex, Glenn, and Kerry came as characters that did not appear in the comics till after 1960

5) Robin came as a character without super powers

(Answers will be posted Thursay, 10/1/09 at www.ruamoviegeniusanswers.blogspot.com)

Drug Store Movies

Matt has a hard time remembering what to get at the store, but he does remember movies. That’s why Kelly gives his a list of movie facts, Joe then remembers the movie and knows the item to bring home. Because he is a movie genius – are you?

HAIR PRODUCT SECTION (two items):

Warren Beatty sex farce (1987) and John Travolta musical (2007)

GARDEN SECTION (two items):

Goldie Hawn comedy (1969) and Julie Andrews spy film (1974)

TOY SECTION (two items):

Adam Baldwin is an abusive father (1992), Robots attack (2007)

HOUSE WARES (two items):

Wesley Snipes plays baseball (1996), Sigourney Weaver satire (2006)

KITCHEN GOODS (two items):

Sam Neill in true space story (2000), Jon Lovitz provided a voice to animation (1987)

Movie Doctor

(A game with only the slightest connection to the current health care debate.)

At a recent medical convention, Dr. Brown the cardiologist, Dr. Jones the ophthalmologist, and Dr. Smith the podiatrist got into a rather silly argument about which of their specialties was more glamorous. The argument became even sillier when they tried to resolve it on the basis of whether more movie titles featured the heart, eye or foot more. Unfortunately (but not for their patients), the good doctors have spent more time with their medical books than in the multiplex. They could only remember a few details about the movies, but not the titles. So it will be up to you to decide whether Brown (the heart doc), Jones (the eye doc), or Smith (the foot doc), won the argument.
(For an example, we will use one of the many films they forgot to mention. “In 1965, Vincent Price, the mad scientist, went to the beach.” The answer is Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine. That point would have gone in the column of Dr. Smith the podiatrist.)

1) In 1984, Kevin Bacon taught a town to dance.

2) In 1995, Pierce Bronsnan takes over as James Bond.

3) Mel Gibson won the 1995 Oscar for this Scotsman’s tale.

4) In 1984, this farm film not only won her an Oscar, it proved Hollywood liked Sally Field.

5) In this 1980 film, Robin Williams ate spinach.

6) In 1954, Humphrey Bogart dealt with an unshod gentlewoman.

7) In 1998, Nicolas Cage had a bad throw of the dice.

8) In 1987, Robert DeNiro gives Mickey Rourke the devil.

9) In 1933, James Cagney joined the illuminated line.

10) In 1978, the Bee Gees were no Beatles.

11) In 1996, Sean Connery gave voice to a mythical beast.

12) In 1934, Shirley Temple shone.

13) In 1972, Charles Grodin was not the ideal newlywed.

14) In 1989, in Daniel Day Lewis won an Oscar, but not in the “right” film.

15) In 2001, J Lo was heavenly.

16) In 1982, this Frederick Forest/Teri Garr musical lost Francis Ford Coppola a lot of money.

17) In 1986, Clint Eastwood starred in the greatest Grenada war film.

18) In 1977, John Wayne’s son Patrick played the a mythical hero seeking Rocky’s inspiration.

19) In 1986, Meryl Streep did not have a recipe for successful marriage to Jack Nicholson.

20) In 1983, Bonnie Bedelia was driven (but a driver).

Answers to Play It Again

Are now posted at www.ruamoviegeniusanswers.blogspot.com along with some cool Youtube links.

PLAY IT AGAIN

A MUSICAL QUIZ TODAY... Many songs are covered again and again in films. Some of the films will be easy to guess. Others will require you to be a movie genius.

1) Everyone knows the film in which Judy Garland sang “Over the Rainbow”, but if you’re a movie genius, you also know in which film Jimmy Stewart sang it.

2) Everyone knows the film in which Fred Astaire sang “Cheek to Cheek”, but if you’re a movie genius, you also know in which film Kenneth Branagh sang it.

3) Anyone could guess the name of the film in which Marlene Dietrich sang “Just a Gigolo”, but if you’re a movie genius, you also know in which film Robert De Niro sang it.

4) Everyone knows the film in which Elvis Presley sang “Love Me Tender”, but if you’re a movie genius, you also know in which movie Nic Cage sang it.

5) Everyone knows the film in which Gordon MacRae sang “Surrey with the Fringe on Top”, but if you’re a movie genius, you also know in which movie Billy Crystal sang it.

6) Everyone knows the film in which Gene Kelly sang “Singin’ in the Rain”, but if you’re a movie genius you also know in which movie Judy Garland sang it. (Bonus if you know in which film Malcolm McDowell “danced” to the song.)

7) Everyone knows the film in which Marion Cotillard sang “En Vie en Rose”, but if you’re a movie genius, you also know in which movie Jack Nicholson sang it.

8) Everyone knows in which movie Marilyn Monroe sang “I’m Through with Love”, but a movie genius also knows in which film Woody Allen sang it (and then cut it.)

9) Many know in which movie the Beatles sang “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”, but if you’re a movie genius, you also know in which movie Steve Martin sang it.

10) Everyone knows in which movie Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle sang “Puttin’ on the Ritz”, but a movie genius also knows the films in which Clark Gable and Fred Astaire (respectively) sang the song.

The answers will be posted at www.ruamoviegeniusanswers.blogspot.com on Thursday (9/22/09) along with Youtube links to some of the performances.

Robots Rule

Unless you are a Movie Genius, you may need the help of an android for this quiz. Name the move based on the robot or android and the year the film appeared (since some robots keep coming back… Yeah, I’m looking at you, Arnold.)

1) Maria (1927)

2) Gort (1951)

3) Robby (1956)

4) Torg (1964)

5) Machani-Kong (1967)

6) Duey (1972)

7) C-3PO (1977)

8) Ash (1979)

9) Pris (1982)

10) T-800 (1984)

11) Tik-Tok (1985)

12) Johnny Five (1986)

13) Dot Matrix (1987)

14) Evil Ted (1991)

15) Data (1994)

16) Gypsy (1996)

17) Cappy (2005)

18) Marvin (2005)

19) Bumblebee (2007)

20) EVE (2008)

(Bonus Question: In what 1973 comedy did a comedian imitate a robot of the future?)

IN HONOR OF THE OPENING OF "CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS"

A FOOD ORIENTED GAME

If you want to dine at the new Hollywood hot spot, Babette’s, you better know your movies. All the items on the menu are titles (or portions of titles) of films. But the chef feels there is no need to actually name the foods, just facts about the films. See how well you would be able to order:

Beverages

1) “The Bitter ____ of General Yen” (1933 Capra drama with Barbara Stanwyck)

2) “_______ and Cigarettes” (2004 independent feature with Bill Murray and Steven Wright)

3) “Don’t Drink the _______” (1969 Woody Allen comedy with Jackie Gleason)

4) “Days of _____ and Roses” (1962 drama with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick)

5) “_____ Money” (1994 comedy with Melanie Griffith and Ed Harris)

6) “What! No _____?”(1933 Buster Keaton comedy talkie)


Side Dishes

7) “_______ _______ ______” (1991 Southern Chick Flick with Jessica Tandy and Kathy Bates)

8) “______ ______”(1998 comedy with Drew Barrymore and Luke Wilson)

9) “_______ _______” (2001 comedy/drama with Hector Elizondo and Elizabeth Pena)

10) “_________, Earl and Me” (1975 drama with Rosalind Cash and Lawrence Fishburne)

11) “_______ of New York” (1937 drama with Cary Grant and Edward Arnold)

12) “Herbie Goes _______” (1980 Disney comedy with Cloris Leachman and a VW Bug)


Entrees

13) “_________ Hill” (1987 Vietnam war film with Dylan McDermott and Don Cheadle)

14) “Mystic ______”(1988 romance with Julia Roberts)

15) “With Six You Get _______” (1968 comedy with Doris Day and Brain Keith)

16) “__________” (2001 crime drama with John Travolta and Halle Berry)

17) “A _____ Ain’t Nothin’ But A ________” (1978 drama with Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield)

18) “_____ _____: The Movie" (1984 ski comedy David Naughton and Shannon Tweed)


Dessert

19) “________ _______” (1930 Marx Brothers comedy)

20) “The ________ Man” (1998 mystery with Kenneth Branagh)

21) “American _____” (1999 comedy with Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan)

22) “Willy Wonka and the ________ Factory” (1971 film much better than the Tim Burton remake)

23) “The ________ ________” (1966 Wilder comedy with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthew)

24) “_____ ______ Man” (1995 low budget horror film with Clint Howard)



(And a bonus quetion ... In the book "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", what four movies are advertised on the theater marquee in the town of Chewandswallow?)

Movie Map

If your only knowledge of United States geography came from films, you could be forgiven for thinking our country consisted of two cities, New York and Los Angeles. Many contemporary film makers seem to think these are the only places of interest.
But a broader study of film history will show that “fly over country” has not always been ignored. The ten films below are in alphabetical order. Your task is to put them in geographic order instead, from west to east. #1 would be the film that takes place chiefly in the most western state and #10 in the most eastern state. (Notice I say “chiefly”. Some of these films include road trips to places like space or Oz or Paris. Base your map on the state the film would most logically be associated with.)

a) “Bend of the River” (1952) with James Stewart

b) “Field of Dreams” (1982) with Kevin Costner

c) “Groundhog Day” (1993) with Bill Murray

d) “Home Alone” (1990) with Macaulay Culkin

e) “Lilies of the Field” (1963) with Sidney Poitier

f) “Lilo and Stitch” (2002) the Disney animated film

g) “The Perfect Storm” (2000) with George Clooney

h) “Red Dawn” (1984) with Patrick Swayze

i) “Rudy” (1993) with Sean Astin

j) “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) with Judy Garland