Do What You Want Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alfred Hitchcock

A definitive auteur, Hitchcock was known for featuring key motifs throughout his works ranging from the interesting takes on human psyches to ensuring that at least once (in each film) he made an appearance. His status in Hollywood was so secure that studios were able to bank on his movies quite easily and, as such, he was given much more creative liberty-- his meticulous nature had him working on several different facets of his movies from cinematography to poster design.

Many scholars have claimed that the movies, including "Psycho" and "Vertigo" were not complete until the images Hitchcock set out with had been storyboarded in great detail, filmed with great precision and finesse, and transcribed to the screen.

Answer: Jean-Luc Godard

What with Parisian cinephile culture emerging in the 1930s and 1940s, an alleged 'New Wave' of directors emerged with the next generation, bringing with them an intense appreciation for the creations of the past decades. Led by an esteemed group from the "Cahiers du cinema" and others new to the film industry, many of these men, including Jean-Luc Godard, focused on little more than their own imprint and paying homage to film stars, genres, and previous movies. Known for "Breathless" ("Ŕ bout de souffle"), Godard helped usher in a movement in which the directors of film not only controlled the behind the scenes, but the editing, writing, and producing of their works.

Answer: Martin Scorsese

Scorsese, who also directed "Raging Bull", "Mean Streets", "Shutter Island", and "The Aviator", while a major American director known for being able to bring in staggering box office receipts, usually has free reign over his films in terms of style. When crafting his movies, he tends to take a look inward, examining characters' inner psyches being let loose, usually in a swath of violence.

At the same time his works deal with the fragility of the mind, they take a look at the spontaneity of destruction with an almost spooky, dark realism.

His 2006 film, "The Departed", delved into the crimes interwoven between Irish mobs in Boston; it won Best Picture and Marty won Best Director.

Answer: Spike Lee

Spike Lee, who emerged onto the cinema scene in the 1980s with films like "Do the Right Thing" and "Malcolm X", has been very notable in his depiction of race relations and the social aspects of urban locales. Perhaps his most famous film, "Do the Right Thing", followed different ethnicities in a single neighbourhood on the hottest day of the year. Often considered outspoken, Lee has amassed a polarizing audience but has always remained a figure in Hollywood. Amongst his auteur stylings are his tendencies to use the same actors in subsequent films (including Samuel L. Jackson, Kim Director, John Turturro, and Denzel Washington among dozens of others) and the inclusion of the words 'A Spike Lee Joint' at the start and end of each of his movies.

Answer: Tim Burton

From "Beetlejuice" to "Mars Attacks!" to "Sweeney Todd", Tim Burton has had several decades of kooky, dark movies under his belt. His style has become so notable that many refer to his films as 'Burtonesque'-- it's a gothic, almost creepy style characterised by obscure shapes, chiaroscuro, the odd and uncanny, and the absurd.

Although Burton often partners with Johnny Depp for his films (leading him to an Oscar nomination for "Sweeney Todd"), he also features his partner, Helena Bonham-Carter, who also has a tendency to start the movie dead or get killed off by the end (...catharsis? Anyone?). Nonetheless, while he has had a few flops ("Mars Attacks!", for instance), people have gone to the movies just to see his off-kilter brand and image.

Answer: The Coen Brothers

Winners of the Best Picture Oscar for "No Country for Old Men", but nominated in the category for several other films (including "Fargo", "A Serious Man", and "True Grit"), the Coen Brothers have combined quirky characters played by recurring actors (Frances McDormand, George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, etc.) with deep emotional layers so many times it's hard to count. Nonetheless they're critically-renowned winners of Oscars and film festival awards on a consistent basis. Both brothers write, direct, produce, and edit their movies and have for decades.

Some of their most famous works include "The Big Lebowski", "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", and "Burn After Reading". The name Roderick Jaynes refers to the both of them as a shared editing credit.

Answer: Lars von Trier

Von Trier, a controversial figure behind the camera and without it, has been known to flip-flop between critical praise and panning over the years. While some of his works like "Dogville" (filmed entirely on a sound stage with no real setting) and "Dancer in the Dark", a Palme d'or winner starring Bjork (which altered its colour schemes throughout) have been renowned for their unique approaches and critiques on film-making, others like "Manderlay" and "Antichrist" were not.

Although some have considered his films to be about shock value, von Trier's themes are often derived from his own life-- many of his works involve disillusionment, attacks on the self, depression, and tragedy.

He also often works in loosely-linked trilogies.

Answer: David Lynch

Lynch, who made his works well-known with releases like "Eraserhead", "The Elephant Man", and the TV show "Twin Peaks", has always been considered a bit weird, partly because of his abnormally-surreal imagery and otherwise difficult-to-grasp stories, presented in fragmented ways.

A hands-on director, Lynch has always brought his technical experience gleaned from years and years of short film work to the creation of full-length feature films. Nominated for four Palme d'or awards (winning one in 1990) and a handful of Oscars, his neo-noir original works are considered some of the most influential of the late '80s and early '90s.

A master of auteurism, Lynch also records and produces experimental music.

Answer: Quentin Tarantino

A fiend for pop culture and a true lover of movies past, Tarantino hit the scene in the early '90s with independent releases like "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction", setting a high bar for his own future films. Nonetheless he continued to master his favourite genres in his own way including revenge films, samurai movies, spaghetti westerns, war movies, slave narratives, high-octane B-movies, and more. Tarantino's films have been consistently nominated for prestigious awards; all of them contain his signature 'conversation set pieces', recurring motifs and, of course, revenge.

Answer: David Cronenberg

Starting with "Stereo" in 1969, Cronenberg continued to establish his interest in the truly horrific focusing on invasions of the body, often by both clearly physical and biological means. Amongst his most famous films are "The Brood", "Scanners", "The Fly", and "The Dead Zone".

As the decades wore on, many of his later works incorporated trends of passing times as well-- movies like "ExistenZ" and "Cosmopolis" brought invasive technology and the impact of wealth into the mix. Some of his other works like "Eastern Promises" and "A History of Violence" (both starring Viggo Mortensen) were Oscar nominees. Since starting his career in film, Cronenberg has been considered by many media outlets to be one of the most important directors to shape cinema in the 20th century; he has been nominated for many lifetime achievement awards.