In Other Words, They're Wrong II Quiz

Answer: March of the Penguins

"March of the Penguins" (then known by its French title, "La Marche de l'empereur," or "The Emperor's March") had its debut at Sundance in 2005. The documentary, shot in Antarctica and covering a year in the lives of a colony of emperor penguins, enchanted viewers and reviewers -- first in a French version that tells the story through voice-overs of the penguins' perspectives, and then in an English version narrated by Morgan Freeman. The love, sacrifice and suffering displayed by the penguins over the course of the film made it a fertile topic for editorials and water-cooler conversation alike. In 2006, it won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

March is also the name of the month between February and April -- early autumn in Antarctica. It is only a small part of the year covered in the film.

Answer: Murder on the Orient Express

First published in 1934, Agatha Christie's novel "Murder on the Orient Express" featured Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot in a classic mystery. A fellow train passenger is found stabbed, and the clues seem to point to no fewer than thirteen different suspects! Poirot's clever detection in this difficult case has enthralled readers ever since; the 1974 movie version, starring Albert Finney, is similarly regarded as a classic.

Perhaps a compass or a map would have allowed M. Poirot to get his bearings and orient himself with respect to this slippery puzzle. The verb "to orient," meaning to determine a position in time and space, is derived from the medieval practice of placing the east ("the Orient") on the top side of a map. Once you've worked out which direction is east, on the map and in the world, you know where you are! (But not, perhaps, where the murderer is.)

Answer: The Fast and the Furious

In 2001, "The Fast and the Furious" brought street racing culture -- and, of course, actor Vin Diesel -- to mainstream audiences. In a plot very similar to that of the film "Point Break" from ten years previously, an LA cop (Paul Walker) infiltrates a street racing gang (led by Vin Diesel) in order to stop a series of heists targeting eighteen-wheeler trucks on the open highway. The undercover cop soon feels conflicted about his work, under the influence of love, friendship, and awesome compact sports cars imported from Japan.

Perhaps the officer could have cleared his mind by fasting, or choosing to give up some (or all) food and drink. Many religions promote fasting as a method of self-purification and of coming closer to God.

Answer: The Last of the Mohicans

James Fenimore Cooper's 1826 novel "The Last of the Mohicans" traces the adventures of Nathaniel "Hawkeye" Bumppo during the French and Indian War. With the aid of the last surviving members of the Mohican people -- Chingachgook and his son Uncas -- he rescues two British sisters from their kidnappers and returns them to safety. The most famous of Cooper's "Leatherstocking Tales," "Last of the Mohicans" has inspired numerous movies and television miniseries.

The historical Mohicans (also spelled Mahicans) did not actually die out, although their language (of the Algonquian linguistic family) is extinct. Between the 1780s and 1830s, this Hudson Valley people was gradually forced westward to Wisconsin; their reservation, shared with another group, is called the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians.

A last is also a wooden or plastic form in the shape of a foot; shoemakers build individual shoes around it. The Mohicans were not especially famed for their shoemaking prowess, however, and it is difficult to see how such tools could have affected the outcome of the book.

Answer: The Empire Strikes Back

Released in 1980, "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" was the second "Star Wars" film to hit theaters. Following the Rebel characters from the first movie -- Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo -- it explores the Empire's devastating response to the Rebels' early successes. The film ends with one character mutilated, another frozen in carbonite and shipped to a deadly enemy, and the Rebels as a whole facing serious reversals of fortune. Moviegoers could hardly wait for these plotlines to be resolved in 1983's "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi."

A strike is also an organized work stoppage. If employees of the government or a business are unhappy with their work conditions, they might all refuse to do their jobs. If enough of them fail to work, the theory goes that their employer will be forced to change its practices. Of course, striking is not legal in all countries or in all situations (for example, critical workers, like firefighters and police officers, are often barred from striking) -- and the unabashedly totalitarian "Star Wars" Empire seems unlikely to allow it!

Answer: Jurassic Park

Michael Crichton's 1990 novel "Jurassic Park," which hinges on the cloning of dinosaurs to create a unique (and, of course, ultimately doomed) theme park, was picked up for movie rights by Universal Studios before it had hit bookstore shelves. The resulting 1993 movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, shattered box-office records and set a new standard for special effects. And all this with dinosaurs hailing mostly from the Cretaceous Era, rather than from the Jurassic!

The titular Jurassic Park is a theme park, a planned tourist destination. A movie about the parking of vehicles would probably have been less successful, even if it included death-defying parallel-parking stunts. But perhaps if they could have dressed up a Triceratops in a valet uniform ...

Answer: The Return of the King

Written by J.R.R. Tolkien as the third and final volume of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Return of the King" was published in 1955. Widely hailed as a masterpiece of epic fantasy fiction, "The Lord of the Rings" has reshaped the literary landscape and seized a place as one of the world's most beloved novels. In the early 2000s, director Peter Jackson took the trilogy to theaters: the last of the three movies, 2003's "The Return of the King" collected over a billion dollars (gross) and won eleven Academy Awards, including the first Best Picture prize to be awarded to a fantasy film. The struggle of a small band of ordinary heroes against a seemingly overwhelming evil does seem to capture the imagination.

As the rightful king of Gondor, the character of Aragorn -- the King whose Return is treated in the book -- probably does not need to bother with tax returns and other financial filings. After all, all the taxes go to him! His subjects, however, are doubtless already collecting income reports and documents.

Answer: My Fair Lady

Based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play "Pygmalion," the Lerner-Loewe musical "My Fair Lady" was a huge success when it hit Broadway in 1956. The show tells the story of Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), a linguistics professor, as he tries to validate his theories by teaching Cockney lass Eliza Doolittle (Julie Andrews) how to speak "like a duchess." The 1964 movie version was also a hit, despite the replacement of Andrews by Audrey Hepburn (most of whose songs were dubbed by Marni Nixon).

A fair is a festival, especially a festival market, held by a community to commemorate a holiday, a local anniversary, technological progress, or other event. In medieval times, fairs were often exempted from taxes and tolls, making them incredibly important commercial events! Eliza Doolittle the singing flower seller, however, is not known to have peddled her wares at fairs.

Answer: Top Gun

In 1986, the movie "Top Gun" helped cement Tom Cruise's claim to stardom. Playing a talented but reckless Navy fighter pilot named Maverick, Cruise engages MiG fighters, executes complex flying maneuvers, and solves the mystery of his pilot father's death in the Vietnam war -- all while romancing a beautiful civilian instructor (Kelly McGillis) at the US Navy Fighter Weapons School. Sales of Ray-Ban sunglasses spiked after the release of the film, and its romantic pop ballad "Take My Breath Away" was deemed breathtaking (and award-winning) by the Academy.

A top is a toy that spins on a point, acting as a gyroscope to stay upright. The top fighter pilots depicted in "Top Gun" never quite spun on their noses, but many of their maneuvers seemed just as physics-defying!

Answer: The Charge of the Light Brigade

"Theirs not to make reply/ Theirs not to reason why/ Theirs but to do and die/ Into the valley of Death/ Rode the six hundred." Alfred, Lord Tennyson, wrote these lines in his 1854 poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade," inspired by a disastrous cavalry charge earlier that same year. During the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, the Light Brigade (a British unit named for their light armoring) had attacked a more heavily defended position than had been intended, due to a misinterpretation of orders and a poor vantage point onto the battlefield. Of some 673 brigadiers, 118 were killed and 127 were wounded; fewer than 200 still had horses at the end of the engagement.

Perhaps a more clearly worded communique would have thrown some light onto their situation; perhaps a clearer view of the lines of battle would have clarified what the orders said. But light, of the illuminating variety, was lacking, and it was the Light Brigade that suffered.

Thank you very much for playing, and for your assistance in undoing the verbose mastermind's wicked work! I hope you've enjoyed the quiz.