10 Degrees of Edward Furlong Trivia Quiz

Answer: A Home of Our Own

"A Home of Our Own", while largely unnoticed at the box office, was really quite effective without being overly manipulative. An uprooted family (sans father) attempted to start a new life and moved into a veritable shack at the onset of this effort. They rebuilt the structure, formed uncharted familial bonds, and each grew up in the process of it. Edward Furlong played Shayne Lacey, a typical, rebellious (and generally angry) teenager in the precarious situation of being the "man" of the family, with Kathy Bates portraying his unstoppable mother.

It was, without question, a "feel good" movie, and Furlong's talent for exhibiting angst came through loud and clear.

Answer: "It's the end of the world! Save us, bank tellers!"

It seems God had given up on the human race, finding the whole lot of it distasteful and, for the most part, one of His biggest disappointments and largest blunders. In a last ditch effort, four angels came to Earth in search of two random folks who would be nice people, and do a great sacrifice for one another despite their complete lack of familiarity with each other. Armageddon ended up in the hands of a thieving bank teller (Olivia Newton-John) and a con man inventor (John Travolta). Yes, the movie was dreadful, and the majority of the audience tried hard to recall the joy of Rydell High and the stars of this disaster when they were in "Grease" together.

Answer: The Promise

All of the films mentioned starred Kathleen Quinlan, but "The Promise", based on a novel by Danielle Steele, was the one in which she was horribly disfigured (nearly dead) after a fiery car crash. Since her boyfriend's rich Mother didn't like the girl to begin with, it came easy for her to concoct a plan to have the woman's destroyed face medically rebuilt, after exacting a promise that she'd go away and leave the heartbroken son (who thought his lover had been killed) alone forever.

The new face was impossible to resist so the young lady accepted straightaway. Do you think she and the old boyfriend met up again later? I wonder if he didn't recognize her at all? Now that we're asking questions: I wonder if they fell in love all over again? No need to ask, is there?

Answer: She was a waitress.

Stella Dallas has been portrayed by Belle Bennett (1925, a silent film) and Barbara Stanwyck (1937), and unfailingly gets put through the wringer each time. Very uncouth to begin with, she had a very trying time just getting by on her own, and being a mother proved especially challenging - but she was very staunch about doing her best.

A widow in earlier incarnations, Midler's version was just 'unwed' and, of course, Bette at her brashest. Collins, incidentally, played the young girl's father.

Answer: Times Square

First, I actually liked this movie. The story was mostly illogical and the music was some strange hybrid of any assortment of genres (but not quite annoying). The friendship between the two girls was hard to swallow, but, once swallowed, it digested just fine.

The problem with the film was that it didn't have any real heart to it. Robert Stigwood, the fellow responsible for "Fever", hoped the music would fill in the gaps, but it didn't. Miss Alvarado continued her career, but what about her friend Ms. Johnson? Her career came to a screeching halt before it really got started.

Answer: Sex, science, and sensibilities

That was "Kinsey", where Neeson played renowned sexologist Alfred Kinsey, and Curry played an associate, Thurman Rice. The film took a predominately twisted view of both the doctor and his work, often insinuating (if not downright accusing) him of using it as little more than a platform for his own curiosities and desire for gratification. Laura Linney played Kinsey's wife, and managed to earn an Oscar nomination for her work.

It was a murky film and certainly not the sort of thing that everyone would find fractionally appealing or worthwhile. Good acting, though!

Answer: He had intentionally jumped to his death.

The movie was not only intense and terrifying, it added the claustrophobic atmosphere of an airplane just to make it worse. One minute there and the next minute gone, Jodie was even told that her daughter was never there at all and had, in fact, died at the same time her father did (when he jumped he took her with him?). Our heroine had no business with any of it, and took on everybody to both get some answers, AND get her child back.

Interestingly, this role was not originally intended to be played by a woman and the parental genders were in the reverse. Jodie could, as it went, clearly hold her own as well as any guy could have, and one would never even think the part as being gender important at all.

Answer: The Hotel New Hampshire

The Berrys were a kooky bunch, but the 'parables of life' notion was covered many times over using them. Parts of it were notably gruesome (incest and rapes, etc.), while other parts were whimsical and lovely (the little girl who longed to be tall, but was doomed to be short in stature but enormous with wisdom for life, for example). Irving is a pretty hard author to translate into just one film since there are so many things going on in his novels.

This movie's biggest weakness was in trying to cover everyone, and everything.

In the end, we never got to know any one of the characters enough to warm up to them. It was, though, a pretty good piece of cinema despite a tendency towards confusion.

Answer: Amy Irving

Each different and each spectacular, these women held a different key that led the baseballer to heights of an extreme, where he had nothing left to do but fall. The story was well-designed (most critics liked it but said it was more than likely "too mysterious for many").

It gained an audience, but never could be considered a blockbuster. The photography, music and art direction were all deservedly Academy Award nominated, as was Close for her supporting role.

Answer: Living and Dying

The movie involved a group of bad guys trying to get the best of another group of almost-as-bad guys, who then turned the tide and became just as bad as the other bad guys. The audience was led to find themselves rooting for one side as the heroes who would have, in any other film, be seen as villainous and despicable thugs. So, in 1991 Furlong was a mixed-up lad with an android for an ally, being protected so as to grow up and save the entire civilization. Fifteen years after that, he played a heat-packing criminal up to no good whatsoever. Somewhere in between those parts he managed, in real life, to be arrested for two traffic violations in a four hour period - the first for driving with no license, and the second for being drunk and causing a collision.

He fathered a child, too, and ended up in court facing charges of assault against the youngster's mother. Hollywood loves its bad boys and maybe, just maybe, that is the role that Edward Furlong was born to play. At any rate, I hope he doesn't burn out and die in the process.

He's supposed to save the world, after all! That eventual governor of California said so once in "Terminator 2" - albeit long before Mr. Schwarzenegger got that day job.