They Won the Oscars in 2012 Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Artist

In 'The Artist', a dashing movie star struggles with Hollywood's transition from silent movies to talkies. He becomes depressed and suicidal when he is knocked off his pedestal, as it were, by sound, but he is helped by his former co-star who has managed to do well in the transition. 'The Artist' also won Best Original Score for composer Ludovic Bource.

The other nominees were: 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close', 'The Help', 'Hugo', and 'Moneyball'.

The Best Picture prize had previously been called "Outstanding Picture", "Outstanding Production", and "Best Motion Picture", before "Best Picture" was settled upon in 1962.

Answer: It was "silent".

I use quotation marks because 'The Artist' was not truly silent, requiring cinemas to supply accompanying music as they had to before 1927. It had a soundtrack of music, sound effects, and in one scene, dialogue. But it was filmed in the manner of silent movies, in black and white, and with intertitles.

Some would say 'The Artist' would be the first "silent" movie to win Best Picture since 'Wings' (1927) took that prize at the First Academy Awards in 1929. Unlike 'The Artist', however, 'Wings' was truly silent, though some hybrid prints were released with sound effects and music imprinted on the film. So perhaps it is more accurate to say that 'The Artist' was the first hybrid film to win in 84 years.

Unfortunately, some Liverpudlian moviegoers of early 2012 demanded their money back when they discovered 'The Artist' was "silent". The Odeon cinema chain agreed to refund the dissatisfied patrons' money.

Answer: Michel Hazanavicius - 'The Artist'

Not only did 'The Artist' win Best Picture, but also its director took the Oscar. It was Michel Hazanavicius's first Oscar nomination. He also won Best Director from the Alliance of Women Film Journalist, from BAFTA, from the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, and from many other institutions. Some earlier films by Hazanavicius include 'OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies' and 'OSS 117: Lost in Rio', spy parodies that also starred the lead of 'The Artist', Jean Dujardin.

Woody Allen was a strong contender with his movie about a fiancé who finds himself transported nightly back to the days of Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway by a mysterious antique car.

Answer: Jean Dujardin

Born in Rueil-Malmaison, France, Jean Dujardin won the Oscar for his role as the troubled silent film star George Valentin in the movie 'The Artist' (which also took Best Picture and Best Director). What a lucky role for Dujardin, as he also earned awards from BAFTA, Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild, to name just a few. Dujardin also played the lead in two spy parodies by the director of 'The Artist': 'OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies' and 'OSS 117: Lost in Rio'.

Demián Bichir was nominated for his role as Carlos Galindo in 'A Better Life'. Swedish Max von Sydow and Canadian William Shatner were NOT nominated for Best Actor in 2012. However, George Clooney was considered for 'The Descendants', Gary Oldman for 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy', and Brad Pitt for 'Moneyball'.

Answer: Christopher Plummer - 'Beginners'

Christopher Plummer plays an aging father who has finally admitted to his son (the saddest cartoonist that ever lived) that he is gay, and begins discovering the gay lifestyle. The certain movie about Austria, by the way, is 'The Sound of Music' (1965).

Kenneth Branagh played the late, great Laurence Olivier in 'My Week with Marilyn'. Nick Nolte played Paddy Conlon in 'Warrior' and Max von Sydow was The Renter in 'Extremely Loud'.

Answer: Meryl Streep - 'The Iron Lady'

Meryl Streep played UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 'The Iron Lady'. Streep also won Oscars for 'Kramer vs. Kramer' (1979) and 'Sophie's Choice' (1982). She had been nominated for Best Actress an additional 12 times before the the 84th Academy Awards.

Up to and including 'Albert Nobbs', Glenn Close had been nominated six times for Best Actress, but never won -- tying with Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter for the most nominations without wins.

Michelle Williams played Marilyn Monroe, which won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy. Rooney Mara played the title role in 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and also received a Golden Globe Award, for Best Actress in a Drama. (Maybe the Academy should consider splitting up drama and comedy for actor and actress awards, too.)

Answer: Octavia Spencer - 'The Help'

'The Help' concerns the relationship between a white journalist and two black maids in Jackson, Mississippi. The movie actually had a second Best Supporting Actress nominee. Whilst Octavia Spencer played the smart-alecky cook Minny Jackson, Jessica Chastain played Minny's employer.

Octavia Spencer debuted with a small role in 'A Time to Kill' (1996). She also appeared in 'Never Been Kissed' (1999), 'Big Momma's House' (2000), and 'Spider-Man' (2002).

Spencer was not the first African-American actress to win Best Actress, however. That distinction goes to Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammy in 'Gone with the Wind' (1939).

Answer: Hugo

Martin Scorsese directed this film about a homeless boy who lives in the Gare Montparnasse railway station in Paris in the 1930s. It was Scorsese's first 3D film, for which he received an Academy Award nomination along with his third BAFTA award for Best Director. 'Hugo' also managed to take Best Art Direction, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing, for a total of five Oscars.

The other movies listed were fellow nominees, but they were not filmed in 3D. 'War Horse' was Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's children's novel (1982) about an Irish boy's horse taken for use by the British army in World World I. It has since been further adapted into a stage production. 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', a mystery-thriller about a 40-year-old disappearance and an orphaned computer hacker who helps the journalist investigating it, was also adapted from a novel, 'Män som hatar kvinnor' ('Men Who Hate Women') by the late Stieg Larsson. 'The Artist', a "silent" movie filmed in glorious black and white, won multiple Oscars, including Best Picture, but Cinematography and Visual Effects were not among them.

Answer: The Muppets

In 'The Muppets', the journey of two brothers (a human being and a Muppet) to see the old Muppet Theater leads Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and the gang to reunite and save said theater from the clutches of a greedy oil magnate. For this movie, Bret McKenzie wrote a song both funny and poignant, "Man or Muppet", in which the two brothers struggle with their identities and loyalties. This was the first Oscar ever won by a 'Muppet' film.

'Rio' was the only other movie that received a Best Original Song nomination, for "Real in Rio" by Sérgio Mens, Carlinhos Brown, and Siedah Garrett. Ludovic Bource won Best Original Score for his work in 'The Artist'.

Answer: The Iron Lady

Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland won the Best Makeup Oscar for their work in making Meryl Streep look extraordinarily like UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a/k/a the Iron Lady, who served from 1979 to 1990. The films covers about 40 years of Thatcher's life.

'Albert Nobbs' was a strong contender, as Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnson, and Matthew W. Mungle did an excellent job of making Glenn Close look like a man. (She played a woman who spent most of her adult life impersonating a man to hold a job as a butler). In fact, it would have been my choice for Oscar, but nobody asked me.

Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight, and Lisa Tomblin received the nomination for their work in the 'Harry Potter' film. 'The Muppets' did not get a nomination in this category.

Answer: Undefeated

In'Undefeated', a Memphis high school football team, the Manassas Tigers, endeavors for its first winning season in years. It was directed by T.J. Martin and Dan Lindsay, and Sean "Diddy" Combs was an executive producer.

Don't confuse this film with 'The Undefeated', a documentary about former Alaska governor and Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. (Both films were released in 2011).

The other answer choices were also nominees, along with 'Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory'.

Answer: Saving Face

The Acid Survivors Foundation of Pakistan documented about 100 acid attacks against Pakistani women in 2011. In the film, Dr. Mohammad Jawad performs reconstructive surgery in the Punjab on survivors of such attacks, two of whom struggle for justice in a country where women are not equal to men in any capacity.

The filmmaker, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, became the first Oscar winner from Pakistan. She agreed not to show the movie in Pakistan, however, because of fears of retaliation against the victims featured.

The other movies listed were nominees, along with 'The Tsunami and the Cherry'.

Answer: The Shore

In 'The Shore', two former best friends reunite after falling out during the Troubles, the Protestant-Catholic conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted from about 1969 to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.

A fifth nominee in this category was called 'Raju'.

Answer: Hugo

'Hugo' won Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, and Best Costumer Design, for a total of 11 nominations.

'The Artist' won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Score, and Best Costume Design. The Academy also nominated 'The Artist' for Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing, for a total of 10 nominations. Both 'Hugo' and 'The Artist' tied, however, for Oscar wins (five).

'Moneyball' and 'War Horse' each received six nominations, but no wins:
'Moneyball' - Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.
'War Horse' - Best Picture, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

Answer: James Earl Jones

David Prowse and Bob Anderson wore the costume and gesticulated in episodes IV-VI, but it was James Earl Jones whose deep, resonant tones the audience heard. Morgan Freeman was never a part of the 'Star Wars' films.

Born in Mississippi, James Earl Jones began his acting career in Broadway in 1957. His film debut was in 'Dr. Strangelove' (1964) as the relatively slender Lt. Lothar Zogg, a B-52 bombardier.

The Academy Honorary Award began in 1948 as a way to recognize achievements not covered by Oscar categories. Generally, recipients receive the same Oscar statuette as other winners. Sometimes new Oscar categories have been created as a result of these awards.