"Chasing Amy": A Closer Look, Part 1 Multiple Choice Quiz | Movies

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Quite a bit of background information is revealed, if one looks very closely, during the opening credits of the the film. Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) started out as completely independent comic book publishers, but it's stated in an issue of "Comic Shop News" that floats about during the opening credits that they later signed with a (fictional) company that had a more established market presence. What is this company called?

Answer: Contender Comics

The "CSN" headline reads, "'37' Pair Headed to Contender Comics."

2. We all know that Holden and Banky enjoy the success of their comic "Bluntman and Chronic" during the film... but what was the name of the independent comic that first garnered them some fame, at least at the local level?

Answer: "37"

Again, this information is revealed in several of the magazine articles that float around the screen during the opening credits of the film. The title seems to be a reference to the number of men whom Veronica Loughran (Marilyn Ghigliotti) has...um...satisfied in writer-director Kevin Smith's debut film, "Clerks" (1994).

3. The first mention in the film of Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams) occurs, again, in the text of an issue of "Comic Shop News." According to the article, what is the name of the company that publishes her moderately popular and critically acclaimed comic book?

Answer: Buried In the Rug Comics

Given what we later learn about Alyssa's lifestyle, this title is a bit juvenile... but keep in mind that Smith is hardly known for his subtlety. Buried in the Rug Comics is Alyssa's own personal publishing label, according to the "CSN" article.

4. It's further revealed in the magazine and newspaper articles featured behind the opening credits that Holden and Banky came up with the idea for their first comic book while working at a certain establishment. What is its name?

Answer: Food City

In the Entertainment section of a newspaper called the "Asbury Park Press," we see an article by Eleanor O'Sullivan about Holden and Banky. The quote in question states that "Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards, two Highlands 20somethings [sic], took their experiences stocking shelves at the Atlantic Highlands Food City and turned them into the newest entry into the growing world of self-published comics." It would seem, then, that Holden and Banky worked at a grocery store before becoming comic book creators.

5. A fairly notable actress' single scene was cut from the final film -- she played a Holden-hating lesbian who seemed to be Alyssa's roommate. Who is this actress, whose work wound up on the cutting room floor?

Answer: Illeana Douglas

Douglas' character was quite vocal about her disapproval of Alyssa's spending time with Holden -- and this was before anything romantic had even happened!

6. The last magazine that we see during the opening credits is an issue of "Wizard," one of the more popular real-life publications covering the comic book industry. Bluntman and Chronic appear on the cover, as do several blurbs referring to real-life comic book creators. Which of the following creators is NOT mentioned on the cover of this fictional issue of "Wizard"?

Answer: Frank Miller

We see two blurbs on the cover -- "Allred On 'Madman'" is one, and "Wagner's Back With 'Mage II'" is the other. There's no mention of "The Dark Knight Returns" and "Sin City" mastermind Frank Miller.

7. The first time we see Banky, there is an oversized illustration to his right. This illustration features a character seen in which of the following films?

Answer: "Mallrats"

Specifically, we see a depiction of LaFours (Sven-Ole Thorsen), the feared security guard with the straw hat from "Mallrats" (1995).

8. One of the actors appearing in the scene in which Banky is first called a "tracer" is the brother of one of the people involved with the film. Who is this actor's sibling?

Answer: Ben Affleck

Ben's brother Casey plays the unnamed fan at the comic book convention who is literally drawn into the "you're just a tracer" tirade delivered by the also-unnamed character played by producer Scott Mosier.

9. What is the name of the panel on which Alyssa Jones and Hooper X (Dwight Ewell) appear at the comic book convention?

Answer: "Words Up -- Minority Voices"

The hysterical Hooper X delivers his infamous anti-caucasian comments from a podium emblazoned with a cheap-looking paper banner reading "Words Up -- Minority Voices" across it.

10. Writer-director Kevin Smith met Dwight Ewell only because Joey Lauren Adams was friends with an actress who was friends with Ewell. Who was Adams' friend, who was, by Smith's own admission, responsible for Ewell being cast in "Chasing Amy"?

Answer: Parker Posey

Adams and Posey had worked together in "Coneheads" (1993), "Dazed and Confused" (1993), and "Sleep With Me" (1994) well before "Chasing Amy" (1997) had even been cast. Posey had worked with Ewell on "Amateur" (1994), "Flirt" (1995), and "Party Girl" (1995), and apparently introduced Ewell and Adams. Adams subsequently introduced Ewell to Smith, who admired him immediately, and decided to cast him in "Chasing Amy.'

11. It's mentioned several times on the DVD that Ben Affleck took time out of the shooting schedule for a particular film to contribute to the "Chasing Amy" commentary. What was the film?

Answer: "Armageddon"

Many jokes are made on the commentary about "Chasing Amy" having inspired director Michael Bay to cast Affleck in his "rock in space" movie.

12. True or False: Kevin Smith met all three of the principal "Chasing Amy" actors -- Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee -- for the first time during the shooting of "Mallrats" (1995).

Answer: True

Smith states clearly that he met Affleck, Adams, and Lee on the set of "Mallrats," and that he wrote parts in "Chasing Amy" especially for them. He even goes so far as to say, jokingly, that "'Mallrats' was a six million dollar casting call for 'Chasing Amy'."

13. Which of the following people does NOT contribute to the DVD commentary of "Chasing Amy"?

Answer: Jason Lee

One could debate how much the clearly-altered Mewes contributes to the commentary (he only chimes in every half hour or so, and is clearly under the influence of...something), but Jason Lee is never heard on the commentary at all. Smith mentions that Lee is in France, filming a movie in which he must speak his dialogue in both English and French (probably 1998's "Cuisine Americaine").

14. When Holden first learns that Alyssa grew up in the same general area of New Jersey that he did, he says, "You know what this is? This is fate." Alyssa, ever the clown, immediately makes a joke that refers to a popular television show of the 1970's. Which one is it?

Answer: "What's Happening!!"

Alyssa does a little dance step and says, "No -- this is 'The Raj'." Roger "Raj" Thomas (played by Ernest Thomas) was the lead character in the ABC sitcom, which ran from 1976 to 1979. In one particular episode, Raj invented a disco-like dance move, and named it after himself; Alyssa replicates it perfectly in the scene mentioned above. Obscure, but it worked for me.

15. In the commentary, Kevin Smith reveals the name of the first person outside of the View Askew production "family" to read the script for "Chasing Amy." Who was it?

Answer: Writer-director-actress Guinivere Turner

Turner, who starred in and co-wrote "Go Fish" (1994), is a longtime friend of Smith's -- he even named a "Mallrats" character after her -- and since she is a lesbian, Smith apparently valued her opinion of the script for "Chasing Amy." She suggested several alterations, all of which Smith allegedly followed to the letter.

16. Smith admits in the DVD commentary that there's one line that he wishes he had cut from the final film. Which character speaks it?

Answer: Alyssa

After Alyssa is more or less bullied onstage to sing by her former bandmate (played by Guinivere Turner), she jokingly refers to said bandmate by an epithet that is, perhaps, the most offensive of all slurs that can be aimed at a woman. (Hint: it begins with the letter "C.") Smith says on the DVD commentary that he wishes, in retrospect, that he'd cut that line, adding that "unnecessary vulgarity never helped a movie."

17. Alyssa sings a song onstage at Meow Mix. Who wrote it?

Answer: Joey Lauren Adams

Yes, the actress is singing her own song. Smith notes that Adams originally wrote it as a country song, but he asked her to "torch it up" in order to fit the mood of the scene a bit more appropriately.

18. After Alyssa's song is over, Holden and Banky learn that Alyssa is a lesbian rather dramatically -- she begins kissing a woman named Kim quite passionately right in front of them. The actress playing Kim has an "inside connection" to the View Askew "family." What is it?

Answer: She is married to Jason Lee

Kim is played by the lovely Carmen Lee, who was, at the time, married to Jason Lee.

19. On the commentary, Kevin Smith refers to one of the performers in the film as having a 'million-dollar smile." Who is it?

Answer: Jason Lee

When Banky finally notices that Meow Mix is a gay bar, he smiles brightly and claps. Smith: "Lee has what you call a million-dollar smile. When that kid smiles, and it's timed right... it's money in the bank."

20. Smith muses that, while most fans over the age of eighteen seem to understand that the scene in which Alyssa and Banky compare injuries is an homage to "Jaws," many younger fans frequently ask him if the scene is an homage to a more recent film. Which one?

Answer: "Lethal Weapon 3"

There is indeed a scene in "Lethal Weapon 3" in which two characters compare injuries... but the framing, mise-en-scene, lighting, and blocking of the scene in "Chasing Amy" are all clearly designed to suggest the "Jaws" scene in which Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and Quint (Robert Shaw) compare their respective scars and wounds. I found the homage to be quite funny.

21. True or False: The scene in "Chasing Amy" in which two people discuss the injuries they have sustained while performing sexual acts was actually written for "Clerks," but was cut from the final script.

Answer: False

The scene actually appeared in the first draft of "Mallrats." T.S. Quint (Jeremy London), Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee), and Jay (Jason Mewes) were to have had the discussion in the food court of the mall, but the scene wound up being removed from the script. Most of that dialogue wound up in "Chasing Amy."

22. Besides the Spielberg homage, Kevin Smith admits to having put in nods to several other notable filmmakers as well. Which is NOT one of them?

Answer: Alfred Hitchcock

The framing of Banky's black-and-white flashback to the injury he sustained while...um...pleasuring a woman is a nod to Mike Nichols' "The Graduate." Smith admits to two Spike Lee-inspired shots -- when Hooper proclaims that "the chickens is comin' home to roost, y'all" at the convention (a "Malcolm X" reference), and when Cohey Lunden "throws down" outside of Quick Stop Groceries (a "Do the Right Thing" reference). Smith also states that the scene in which Alyssa is revealed as a lesbian is an homage to Blake Edwards' "Victor/Victoria." No mention of Hitchcock is ever made.

23. True or False: Ben Affleck and Jason Lee first met on the set of "Mallrats."

Answer: False

Affleck and Lee first met on the set of "Dazed and Confused" (1993), but Affleck admits that they didn't really become friends until much later. (I'm told that Lee wasn't actually *in* "Dazed and Confused"; nonetheless, Affleck himself states on the DVD that it was during the shooting of this film that he and Lee first met. Perhaps Lee was just paying a visit to another cast member?)

24. Holden McNeil uses the term "patzer" (or "potzer," if you prefer the alternate spelling) at least twice in the film. Kevin Smith freely admits that he stole this unusual term from the dialogue of what film?

Answer: "Searching For Bobby Fischer"

A patzer is a someone who makes a lot of mistakes, or, in jargon, an inept chess player -- the word derives from the German verb "patzen," which means "to bungle." "Searching For Bobby Fischer" is primarily about chess, and several characters in the film use that term to deride fellow players. Holden seems to use the word simply as a synonym for "fool" -- no chess involved.

25. Matt Damon plays one of the MTV executives who offer Holden and Banky a lucrative animated series deal. Smith admits that he based Damon's look -- consisting of "a George Clooney haircut and a tight little t-shirt," to quote Affleck -- on a real-life executive from what corporation?

Answer: New Line Pictures

Surprisingly, Smith even names the man: Damon's character was meant to emulate Mike DeLuca, at New Line Pictures. Part 2 of this quiz will be coming soon, so stay tuned!

Source: Author enfranklopedia

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor LadyCaitriona before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

"Chasing Amy": A Closer Look, Part 1 Quiz

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"Chasing Amy": A Closer Look, Part 1 Quiz

Yes, now that I own the Criterion DVD of "Chasing Amy," I've come up with even *more* questions about the only Kevin Smith movie I admit to liking unapologetically. Knowledge about DVD commentary and cut scenes required, so this is for experts.

Yes, now that I own the Criterion DVD of "Chasing Amy," I've come up with even more questions about the only Kevin Smith movie I admit to liking unapologetically. Knowledge about DVD commentary and cut scenes required, so this is for experts.