What Movie Was That Character From Again? #1 Quiz

Answer: Cast Away

Released in 2000, "Cast Away" is the story of Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks), a FedEx logistics manager who is on his way overseas when his plane crashes. Chuck finds himself a castaway on an uncharted island. Through the film, we see Chuck struggle to fill his basic needs - water, shelter, food. Once he succeeds in being able to regularly meet his basic needs, he begins to thrive on the island.

While he's trying to make his first fire, Chuck cuts his hand. He gets frustrated and starts yelling and throwing stuff from the plane crash (all FedEx packages that were on the plane) around. Fans of early Tom Hanks will really enjoy seeing a little of the "comedy Tom Hanks" shining through in this moment. One of the things he grabs and throws is a Wilson volleyball.

He smears blood all over it, then realizes the smear looks like a face. Chuck changes a few things to make it look more like a face. "Wilson" (self) becomes his companion during the rest of his ordeal, thus (partially) filling the need for companionship.

When two sides of a porta-potty wash up on the shore, Chuck realizes he can build a raft and use the porta-potty as a sail and get off the island. Since he got stranded, Chuck had held the hope that he would be able to get back to his fiancee, Kelly (Helen Hunt). Does he make it? You'll have to watch the movie to find out!

Answer: Casablanca

Released in 1942, "Casablanca" is the story of Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), proprietor of "Rick's Cafe Americain", a restaurant/nightclub in Casablanca, Morocco during WWII. Casablanca was a kind of jumping-off point for people trying to escape the war in Europe and North Africa, so exit visas were a hot commodity.

When Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) and Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) show up in his club looking for visas, Rick is taken aback. Victor is a freedom fighter from France and Ilsa is his wife.

The problem is that Ilsa is the only woman Rick has ever loved in his life. He remembers their time in Paris together, even though it was short. The Germans were on their way. Once he sees her, Rick's love is rekindled, as is Ilsa's. But, since Victor and Ilsa are married, Rick curses his luck - "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine." As is the case with most love triangles, someone will get hurt. Who will it be? Victor? Rick? Ilsa? Will any of them make the personal sacrifice for the greater good?

Answer: The Sandlot

Released in 1993, "The Sandlot" tells the story of Scott Smalls, a new kid, who tries to join baseball team comprised of kids from his new neighborhood. The main problem is that Smalls doesn't know anything about baseball, even to the point that he takes his stepfather's Babe Ruth autographed baseball out of its display case so the boys can use it for practice. When he hits his first home run, into the backyard "The Beast" (a St. Bernard that the boys believes is a huge kid-eating monster) lives in, the boys have to figure out a way to get the ball back.

"Squints" got his nickname because he wears glasses; "Yeah Yeah" got his nickname from his habit of saying "yeah yeah" at the beginning of some of his sentences ("Yeah yeah, you were..."); Timmy and Tommy Timmons were brothers (obviously). Tommy had the annoying habit (as most younger brothers do) of repeating what Timmy just said.

Answer: Airplane!

Released in 1980, "Airplane!" is a hilarious spoof of the disaster films of the past, mainly parodies "Zero Hour!" (1957). While on a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago, many passengers get sick after eating tainted fish. After both pilots also became ill, passenger Ted Striker (Robert Hays), a pilot who is suffering from after-effects from "the war" must land the plane safely.

Steve McCroskey (Lloyd Bridges) is the head air traffic controller; Rex Kramer (Robert Stack) is the pilot on the ground who is going to talk them in; and Roger Murdock (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) is the co-pilot who one of the child passengers thinks actually IS Kareem. Murdock continues to get more and more uncomfortable as the kid talks about how lazy Kareem is. Murdock snaps and sets the boy straight (as Kareem).

Answer: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Released in 1977, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is the story of Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), an electrical lineman in a small Indiana town who is telepathically contacted by aliens to come to Devil's Tower, Wyoming to meet with them. Roy's subsequent obsession with Devil's Tower leads him to build models of it out of whatever materials were handy at the time (mashed potatoes, mud and shrubbery from the yard). Roy doesn't understand why he seems to be mentally obsessed with the tower, but when he sees a news story about a "gas leak" near Devil's Tower, he realizes that it looks familiar.

He is drawn to the national monument. Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon) is a mother whose young son was abducted by the same aliens. She is mystically drawn to the tower as well. Because Claude Lacombe (Francois Tauffaut) has been tracking similar phenomena with thousands of others, he is invited by the US government to be their ambassador. Lacombe becomes the main advocate for all of the people who were also drawn to the location.

It's because of his advocacy that they are allowed to stay for the meeting with the extraterrestrials.

Answer: Se7en

Released in 1995, "Se7en" is the story of two detectives (Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt) tracking a serial killer bent on punishing those who he feels have blatantly violated the Seven Deadly Sins. The detectives investigate crime scenes labeled with each of the Deadly Sins while trying to determine when and where the killer will strike again, along with which Sin will be featured. John Doe (Kevin Spacey) is the main suspect, especially after he expresses particular disgust when discussing the crimes; not the crimes themselves, but the Sins he believed the people to be guilty of. Doe and Mills become the last two Sins. Which ones are they and how do they fit in the plan? Watch the film and find out.

Answer: Brokeback Mountain

Released in 2005, "Brokeback Mountain" is the story of two cowboys (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) who fall in love while out on the trail. Ennis (Ledger) is married to Alma (Michelle Williams) who is understandably devastated when she finds out about their long-term (and at the time, taboo) relationship. The film shows the evolution of Ennis and Jack's relationship, including jealousy of Ennis and Alma's marriage.

Director Ang Lee became the first Asian-born director to win the Oscar for Best Director. In a major upset, the film didn't win the Best Picture Oscar; the honor instead went to "Crash".

Answer: Blazing Saddles

Released in 1974, Director Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" is a film significantly ahead of its time. Questionable in 1974, incredibly offensive by today's standards, but somehow hilarious, "Blazing Saddles" is the story of Bart (Cleavon Little), a Black man who is chosen to become the new sheriff of a small Wild West town. Why? Because Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman), who works for the governor (Brooks), knows the new railroad will run through the town and make the land incredibly valuable.

He hatches a plan to run everyone out of town by appointing Bart as the sheriff.

He believes everyone will become so offended by having a Black sheriff that they will leave. Taggart (Slim Pickens) is Hedy Lamarr's ("That's HEDLEY!") lackey. Jim (Gene Wilder), a former gunslinger and current drunkard, becomes friends with Bart and eventually his deputy.

It is revealed that Jim was once known as "The Waco Kid", who had the fastest draw in the world. Throughout the film, the chess match between Bart and Hedley is interesting to watch.

The ending is...strange, to say the least.

Answer: Vertigo

Released in 1958, "Vertigo" is one of director Alfred Hitchcock's psychological masterpieces. It tells the story of John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart), a former cop who is hired by his friend Gavin Elster to spy on Elster's wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak in a dual role), and find out where she goes every day. What Scottie finds is that Madeleine goes to a place where a woman that she resembles died years before. She never has any recollection of where she went or what she did. Is she possessed? Is she the woman reincarnated? Scottie believes she might have faked her own death and started over as Judy (Novak). Because Scottie fell in love with Madeleine, so when he sees Judy, he becomes obsessed, even to the point of dressing Judy like Madeleine. Midge (Barbara Bel Geddes) is Scottie's best friend, who is in love with him, but tries to hide it.

The title of the film comes from the fact that Scottie's partner died when he fell off a building. Since then, anytime Scottie gets near any high place (including a stepladder), he gets vertigo - dizziness and general unsteadiness.

Answer: West Side Story

Another 1958 release, "West Side Story" is the film adaptation of the stage musical. The story is based on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", but instead of warring families, it's street gangs. Tony (Richard Beymer) and Maria (Natalie Wood) are associated with rival gangs. Bernardo (George Chakiris) is Maria's overprotective older brother who is the leader of the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang trying to take over the West Side (of Manhattan) territory of the Jets. Tony is the former leader of the Jets and gets dragged into the big rumble for the territory. Just like Romeo and Juliet, Tony and Maria just want to live happily ever after, but their friends have other plans. Like "Romeo and Juliet" this film has a tragic ending, but not as tragic as "Romeo and Juliet".

Answer: Rear Window

Released in 1954, Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" shows the consequences (both good and bad) of spying on your neighbors. When L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries (James Stewart) breaks his leg while trying to get the ultimate action photo, he is confined to a wheelchair with nothing to do but watch his neighbors' comings and goings. Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly, two years before she became the Princess of Monaco) is Jeff's girlfriend, who believes Jeff when he says that it looks like his neighbor Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr) killed his wife, helps Jeff get evidence to help put Thorwald in prison.

She puts herself in great danger by doing so, but she does it because she is in love with Jeff. The things we do when we're in love, huh?

Answer: Some Like It Hot

Released in 1959, "Some Like It Hot" is director Billy Wilder's fun movie about Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, respectively), musicians who are unwitting witnesses to the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. They have to get out of Chicago immediately so they aren't rubbed out by the mafia.

The fastest way out of the city is in an all-girl band that is headed on a train to Miami (which sounds great in itself, as it's the dead of winter in Chicago). Joe and Jerry dress as women and the results are hilarious.

When they meet their band mate Sugar (Marilyn Monroe), they both fall for her. The ensuing competition for her affections, while having to remember that everyone thinks they're women, is very entertaining.

Answer: Singin' in the Rain

Released in 1952, "Singin' in the Rain" is a film showing the rough transition from silent films to "talking pictures". Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) is a silent film star who is eternally linked, through their many films together, with Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen).

Despite the fact that they secretly hate each other, the celebrity gossip columns can't get enough of the two. Once they try to make the transition to talkies, they realize that they aren't the world's greatest actors, and Lina has a shrill voice that makes people cringe.

After a test screening of their first talkie, Don, his best friend, Cosmo (Donald O'Connor), and up-and-coming starlet Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) hatch a plan to turn their film into a musical. The only problem is Lina and her horrible voice ("She can't sing, she can't act, she can't dance.

A triple threat." - Cosmo). The solution sets Lina off. What happens? Watch the film and find out!

Answer: Schindler's List

Released in 1993, "Schindler's List" is director Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, the true story of German industrialist Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who rescued 1,200 Jews from concentration camps during the Holocaust. Along with his accountant, Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley). Schindler, realizing that he is making money on the backs of people who could be killed at any moment for any reason, start compiling a list of people who should come and work at his factory. The factory became a safe haven for these Jews. Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) is the Nazi officer in charge of the work camp where many of Schindler's workers were housed.

The film won Best Picture and Best Director (along with many other Oscars). Steven Spielberg has never accepted any money for the film, instead donating all proceeds he would have earned to the Shoah Foundation, which documents witness/survivor accounts of the Holocaust and other genocides.

Answer: The Shawshank Redemption

Released in 1994, "The Shawshank Redemption" is adapted from the Stephen King novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption." It tells the story of convicted murderer Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) and his time in prison. While he initially struggles with life behind bars, over time he is able to build a library and endear himself to his fellow convicts, including Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman). Red is the "guy who can get it for you," meaning he's one of the prisoners who has connections to smuggle contraband into the prison. To satisfy his craving to resume his hobby of rock shaping, Andy asks Red to get him a rock hammer. It's revealed that Andy discovered that concrete in the wall in his cell is brittle. So he devises a plan to escape, along with the millions of dollars he helped the warden launder over the years.

Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore) is the original prison librarian who ends up being paroled after being in prison for the vast majority of his life. Brooks' fate is heartbreaking.