A Deep Dive into Weirdo Cinema [7] Quiz

Answer: Sir Billi

The first CGI film to be made entirely in Scotland, Connery appeared to be doing a favour with this one, coming out of his retirement after "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" to give his voice to Billi, himself. Unfortunately, the rest of this 2012 film didn't hold up plotwise, comedically, or in graphical quality. What followed was somewhat of a fantasy parody of James Bond films (because, of course, you have Connery), but with a number of anthropomorphic creatures filling in key roles.

Though the movie cost £15,000,000 to make, it made back $15,000 USD in the box office. Critics claimed it was the worst final film that could've turned around as a capstone for Connery's career; he passed away in late 2020. The movie would ultimately garner a Rotten Tomatoes score of 0%.

Answer: Vanilla Ice

Nominated for seven Razzies but only getting one (for Ice, himself), "Cool as Ice" was an anomaly of a film, putting the one-hit wonder rapper into the lead role of a movie with no real sense of genre. In it, Ice plays a rapper who falls in love with a small-town good girl despite her former police officer father being in witness protection. You may ask "what does that have to do with anything?" Well, as the movie unfolds, Ice brings trouble to town.

Exceedingly poorly-received, it squashed Vanilla Ice's chances at becoming a movie star. He wouldn't show up in another film for another decade. As the '90s progressed he fell into obscurity. "Cool as Ice" made back less than a quarter of its $6,000,000 USD budget and critical reviews dropped the buzz about it like a stone. The early '90s were weird, man.

Answer: Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie

Based on the popular kids' TV show of the same name, "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie" hit theatres in 1995 as a continuation of the canon story, sending the rangers off to a faraway world to gain new powers that would enable them to defeat Ivan Ooze, an evil being unearthed from an Angel Grove construction site.

Though not completely well-regarded by adults, it fit the bill for the kids who were fans of the show at the time, elaborating on an already winning formula and, in turn, allowing Saban to create an entire new line of merchandise to represent the new Zords and Ranger outfits seen in the movie. Director Bryan Spicer would go on to have a lucrative career in TV directing while the "Power Rangers" show would continue in different iterations for decades after.

Answer: A prison

Excessively violent to a campy level, "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky" was one of the final films of Hong Kong director Lam Ngai Kai, who many considered to be the Ed Wood of Hong Kong cinema. Set in the distant year of 2001, the movie follows Riki-Oh as he's placed into a dangerous prison for killing a crime lord. Naturally, this puts his life at risk, though what the other prisoners don't know (as chaos unfolds) is that he has inexplicable super-strength.

The movie feels like a cross between a normal martial arts film for the day and Peter Jackson's "Brain Dead" in terms of the level of over-the-top graphic content, and it was so far past the line that it received a rating restricting viewership for those under 18. Nonetheless, "Riki-Oh" managed to obtain a similar cult status in later years with its hyper-violence becoming somewhat in style in the 2000s. It's still very watchable.

Answer: Sharknado

"Enough said" is right. "Sharknado" delivers on its baffling premise of 'what if a tornado, but sharks?' with aplomb, mainly because with a prompt like that, there's nowhere else to go. Starring a bevy of B-movie actors including Tara Reid and Ian Ziering, "Sharknado" was an immediate schlock classic, resulting in five sequels and more than one spin-off. It also helped legitimize SyFy's particular brand of 'horror' offering in a market that was dominated by The Asylum productions in the late 2000s.

In "Sharknado", the premise is simple: a hurricane hits Los Angeles sending sharks, pulled from the ocean, into the sky. A nightmare ensues.

Both Ziering and Reid returned for the sequels, occasionally adding Mark McGrath, Vivica A. Fox, David Hasselhoff, and others to the roster.

Answer: Another ninja

No, you don't need to watch "Ninja" ("Enter the Ninja") and "Ninja II" ("Revenge of the Ninja") to watch this one, and yes, it is an exorcism movie. I can't say enough good things about this 1984 martial arts horror film set in what should be Los Angeles in which a young woman/aerobics instructor named Christie is possessed by an evil ninja spirit. As she heads out night after night (though sometimes in broad daylight) to kill the police officers that gunned the ninja down, one detective tries to solve the case.

There is a scene at the opening of this movie where a ninja kills numerous people on a golf course for what appears to be no reason. At another moment, Lucinda Dickey, who plays Christie, seductively pours a can of V8 Juice down her neck. This movie is unhinged.

Polish director Sam Firstenberg, who made this and the previous two films, would go on to start the "American Ninja" series as well.

Answer: I Love Rock and Roll

Made at the height of Spears' popularity, "Crossroads" appeared to be the perfect venue to facilitate her transition into acting in leading roles...except it really wasn't. A road trip movie with problems, it featured Spears as Lucy along with her friends Kit and Mimi (played by Zoe Saldana and Taryn Manning) as they set out from Georgia to Los Angeles looking for dreams and answers. And they found all of those. And more problems.

The film is notable for its fairly heady content, especially towards the end of the film where it's revealed that Kit's boyfriend has been cheating on her, but is responsible for Mimi's unwanted pregnancy. And then Mimi falls down some stairs. It's all very problematic, especially considering Britney Spears was, at this time, a teen pop icon.

The movie was critically panned but made a fair bit of money at the box office. Nonetheless, Spears rarely dipped her toes into acting again after that. Screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, however, would become one of the biggest names in TV show-running of the 2010s.

Answer: Dreamcatcher

And wow were they ever aliens. Stephen King may be criticized for some of his works, but horror readers are likely to agree that he is a master of conveying everyday horror through the lens of very normal people. "Dreamcatcher", however, is an anomaly, written in a hospital bed after a severe accident in which he was hit by a car walking near his Maine home. The painkillers are almost noticeable in the writing.

And with that, "Dreamcatcher" was quickly adapted to the screen. Featuring a group of four friends headed to a winter cabin, it chronicles their encounter with two warring bands of aliens and the psychic powers possessed by their friend "Duddits", played by Donnie Wahlberg...who also happens to be an alien.

Morgan Freeman shows up as well at some points, acting like a crazed lunatic. He'd also appeared in the critically acclaimed "The Shawshank Redemption", another King adaptation, back in 1994.

Answer: Detroit

A Paul Verhoven sci-fi classic predating "Total Recall" and "Starship Troopers", "Robocop" is a dystopian treat. Set in Detroit in a future where it appears to be a hellhole filled with flaming trashcans, overwhelming amounts of crime, and general rioting, Peter Weller plays Alex Murphy, whose body is compromised by gang violence and transformed into a cyborg capable of fighting crime with an iron fist.

Generally well-received, "Robocop" turned into a cult favourite. A pair of sequels was created in 1990 and 1993 though Weller only returned for the first. Robocop himself is so tied to the image of Detroit that it was proposed that a statue of the character be erected in the city. And with all of this, despite being R-rated, it found massive success in merchandising with comic books, action figures, and toys still managing to sell strongly in all markets-- even for kids.

Answer: False

While the whole movie takes place indoors for the most part, it's actually set in a series of corridors and office buildings found throughout Calgary, Alberta, all of which link together via over-ground bridges and tunnels. A satire on corporate culture, it depicts a group of people going about their jobs and lives without ever really stepping outside the manufactured world that's been created, and as such it takes things to a bit of a surreal extreme.

Well-reviewed, the movie was made on a relatively low budget and filmed during open hours at a number of Calgary office buildings. It would end up winning awards quite handsomely at a number of Canadian film festivals.