Films on Planes Trivia Quiz

Answer: Continental Divide

The words "John Belushi" and "romantic comedy" don't seem to go together, but it actually was a charming film. Blair Brown from the television show, "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd", played Belushi's love interest. She was a scientist, researching bald eagles, and Belushi was a Chicago newspaper reporter who was sent to interview her to keep him out of trouble at home. Opposites attracted, and the two ended up together.

The film was released in September 1981, about three months before I saw it on a cross-country flight to Atlanta. Belushi died soon after in March 1982.

Answer: "Crocodile" Dundee

I wasn't on a flight to Australia; I was actually heading to Germany. In the film, co-star (and future wife) Linda Kozlowski played a reporter who went to Australia to meet Mick Dundee, a legendary crocodile hunter. After some adventures in the Outback, she brought him to her turf in New York City where he struggled to fit in. Still, some of his skills came in handy; he chased off would-be muggers by showing them his huge hunting knife: "That's not a knife; THAT's a knife".

The Hogan-Kozlowski team would make a couple of "Crocodile Dundee" sequels before calling it quits on their marriage in 2014.

Answer: Working Girl

"Working Girl" was released in late 1988, and I saw it on a flight to Atlanta several months later. In the film, Melanie Griffith played Tess McGill, the secretary for conniving Katharine Parker (Sigourney Weaver). When McGill realized that Parker had planned to pass off one of her (McGill's) ideas as her own, McGill decided to make her own presentation to management with the help of Parker's quasi-boyfriend (Harrison Ford).

The film was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, and it won for its theme song, Carly Simon's "Let the River Run".

Answer: Four Weddings and a Funeral

I don't recall what the other film selections were, but since I was heading to the British Isles, I picked a British film! The popular film featured Hugh Grant as commitment-phobic Charles who was enamored with free-spirited Carrie (Andie McDowell) whom he kept meeting at several weddings, one of which was hers, and at a funeral.

Her marriage didn't last, and they ended up together but without the wedding. The film won five BAFTAs and was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Picture. One of my favorite quotes about the film came from the American television show "Married... with Children".

When Peg Bundy said that she wanted to watch "Four Weddings and a Funeral", her long-suffering husband Al said "That's kinda like five of the same thing".

Answer: The Wedding Planner

This was actually the first film I'd seen with either of these performers. In the 2001 film, Jennifer Lopez played a wedding planner named Mary who met the man of her dreams, Steve (Matthew McConaughey) only to find out that he was the fiance of her heiress client, Fran.

In the end, Steve and Fran broke up, allowing Steve and Mary to get together (after she walked out on her own semi-arranged wedding). The film was pretty much panned by the critics although it did well at the box office.

Answer: Finding Forrester

In the film, William Forrester (Sean Connery) was a reclusive author who had written one Pulitzer-Prize winning novel and then shut himself away from the world. Jamal (Rob Brown) was a prep school student who played basketball on the court across from Forrester's apartment.

The two became friends with Forrester helping Jamal with his writing. In the end, Forrester died, and he left the manuscript to his second novel with Jamal, thanking Jamal for inspiring him. The film was popular with critics, being nominated for and winning several critics' awards.

This film reminded me of "Good Will Hunting" (they were both directed by Gus Van Sant), and having Matt Damon show up at the end of the film as Forrester's lawyer just reinforced the resemblance for me.

Answer: Miss Congeniality

Hard to believe, but this was the first film in which I'd seen Sandra Bullock. In the film, she played FBI agent Gracie Hart, who went undercover at the Miss United States beauty pageant after a threat was received against the event. As Miss New Jersy, Gracie Lou Freebush, the geeky Hart was groomed into a plausible contestant by Michael Caine, and even though she didn't win the title, she did save the pageant (and the winner) from being bombed by the disgruntled director (Candice Bergen).

The film was popular at the box office and inspired a sequel several years later.

Answer: Meet the Parents

This was a pretty funny film to see on a plane, considering that Greg Focker's problems began when an airline lost his luggage. I can't recall, but I'm pretty sure that the scene where he abused the flight attendant and said "bomb" on the plane were edited out.

In the film, Focker (Ben Stiller) went to New York to meet his girlfriend Pam's parents (Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner). The more he tried to impress them, the worse it got for Greg, but just when it looked like Pam and Greg were going to break up, Pam's dad relented and gave Greg permission to marry Pam.

The film did well at the box office and spawned the sequels "Meet the Fockers" and "Little Fockers".

Answer: Casino Royale

Gasp - a blond James Bond? The selection of Daniel Craig as Pierce Brosnan's successor was controversial, but his performance in "Casino Royale" earned him acclaim. Ian Fleming's novel "Casino Royale" was the first in the "James Bond" series, so Daniel Craig was able to reintroduce us to James Bond from the very beginning.

In the film, Bond received his "00" status and was sent to destroy a terrorist financier, Le Chiffre. Bond worked with a British treasury agent, Vesper Lynd, and he ended up leaving the agency for her, only to find out that she double-crossed him to save her boyfriend.

The film was a critical and commercial success and was the highest grossing "James Bond" film until being passed by 2012's "Skyfall".

Answer: Now You See Me

I hadn't heard of this film before seeing it on the flight, but it kept my attention. The 2013 film was about a group of street magicians who were brought together by an unknown orchestrator to perform some elaborate tricks/robberies. Interpol agent Alma Gray (Melanie Laurent) became involved after the Paris bank robbery, and she worked with FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) to try to catch The Four Horsemen in the act and figure out how they were committing their crimes. I won't reveal the rest! The film received mixed reviews, mainly due to its convoluted plot and loose ends but did well at the box office.