Great Comedy Films After 2000 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Steve Carell

Steve Carell has a long history in television and bit parts in movies. "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" was really his first starring film. Television fans will remember him as Michael Scott, Regional Manager in the long running "The Office" (2005-2013). "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006), "Evan Almighty" (2007), and "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" (2012) are his other films in addition to numerous voice-overs.

The trio of co-workers dream up various schemes to assist him but most are failures. They give him questionable dating advice, get his chest hair removed, run him through a speed dating sequence, and set him up with a prostitute who turns out to be a male transgender. But as he goes through these experiences, his confidence grows and he becomes the best salesman in the store and begins to realize that he must take charge of his own life.

Rotten Tomatoes give it an 85% freshness rating and was one of the highest grossing films of that year.

Footnote: The American Humane Association did not approve the film as some tropical fish died during filming.

Answer: Napoleon Dynamite

"Napoleon Dynamite" was a sleeper hit of 2004 reaping many times its cost. Basically the film divides between Napoleon's (Jon Heder) eccentric family and the trials of high school students who may be different. Napoleon's grandmother drives all-terrain vehicles in the desert, his brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) spends his time in chat rooms looking for romance, and Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) who lives in the past and has a host of get-rich-fast schemes. Add to that Rico's girl friend LaFawnduh Lucas (Shondrella Avery) who steals every scene she is in.

Meanwhile at school Napoleon has only two friends, Pedro (Efren Ramirez) and Deb (Tina Majorino). When Pedro opts to run for class president against a popular girl, he becomes an even bigger target of ridicule. At assembly the two candidates give speeches; Pedro's speech is in a monotone and boring. Napoleon does not know that each candidate must have a skit. Napoleon puts on "Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai and improvises a dance. His standing ovation propels Pedro to victory.

Jon Heder has also appeared in a number of films but his career has turned to voiceovers in a variety of television and film projects.

The critical response was mixed. Roger Ebert commented "the movie makes no attempt to make [Napoleon] likable" and noted that it had "a kind of studied stupidity that sometimes passes as humor". The Christian Science Monitor praised the film as "a refreshing new take on the overused teen-comedy" that "may not make you laugh out loud - it's too sly and subtle for that - but it will have you smiling every minute". It earned a 71% freshness tag from Rotten Tomatoes. "Napoleon Dynamite" is a cult film classic.

Footnote: Jon Heder earned $1000 in salary for starring.

Answer: Borat

Advance people would line up potential venues for Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) to interact with. They were told that Borat was a foreign visitor, unaccustomed to the English language and may say unusual things. Since they would be filming, each person had to sign a waiver. Their true objectives were hidden in the fine print. Borat shocked the volunteer participants with rudeness, anti-Semitic remarks, graphic sexual comments beyond innuendo, and broad statements and stereotypes about many minority groups. In other words it was "Candid Camera" gone raunchy, rated "R" and maybe "X".

But there is no evil intent as it is a satire, often in innocent or uninformed statements such as "She is my sister. She is number-four prostitute in whole of Kazakhstan", "He insist we not fly in case the Jews repeated their attack of 9/11", and "I arrived in America's airport with... a jar of gypsy tears to protect me from AIDS".

The only semblance of a plot is Borat's crush on Pamela Anderson who played herself; otherwise, it is surprise tricks on unsuspecting individuals and groups.

Rotten Tomatoes' rating was 91%. Its consensus said, "Part satire, part shockumentary, Borat gets high-fives almost all-around for being offensive in the funniest possible way."

The law suits were many. Romanian extras sued for being paid only 1.28 dollars for all day work, and the European Center for Antiziganism Research sued on behalf of defamed gypsies. The film was banned by many countries, including most of the Arab world, and Kazakhstan until tourism increased.

Sacha Baron Cohen is an English Jew known for developing his own characters such as Ali G and Borat, but was also praised for his supporting role in "Les Misérables" (2012).

Answer: White Castle

The 2004 comedy "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" stars John Cho as Harold Lee, a Korean-American man working at investment banking where other employees take advantage of him. Kal Penn is Kumar Patel, an Indian-American trying to avoid medical school so he doesn't end up like his father and brother.

After smoking some weekend pot, they decide to go to White Castle for some burgers but find it is out of business so they begin to search for another one. Along the way they have an altercation with a raccoon, meet Neil Patrick Harris, and are offered to take part in a foursome but panic when the ratio is 3:1.

When they finally find White Castle, they put in a tremendous order. During the night they reconsider their lives. Harold resolves not to be the office patsy and Kumar reconsiders medical school.

White Castle is credited as the first fast-food chain in the United States. It is known for its small, square hamburgers, called sliders. They were 5 cents when they opened in the 1930s and 10 cents later. You could get a whole sack for a buck.

Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 74% and said "The likable leads and subversion of racial stereotypes elevate Harold and Kumar above the typical stoner comedy."

Answer: Bad

If you sometimes get weary during the holiday season of the saccharine Christmas movie fare, then this may be the film for you. Billy Bob Thornton not only plays a rude Santa for the little children but is a criminal, an alcoholic, and a womanizer. He and his partner, Tony Cox, who plays an elf, plan to rob the store.

Along the way he meets Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly) a rather naďve boy that begins to soften his heart toward children but only after he cracks his family's safe and steals their car. Sue (Lauren Graham), who has a sexual Santa fixation, becomes his girlfriend, a departure from her "Gilmore Girls" role.

Rotten Tomatoes has a 78% fresh" rating and commented: "A gloriously rude and gleefully offensive black comedy, 'Bad Santa' isn't for everyone, but grinches will find it uproariously funny."

Answer: Ellen Page

Juno deals with her pregnancy in a positive demeanor rather than becoming maudlin. She is uncomfortable with the atmosphere at the abortion clinic so she advertises for adoptive parents in the local shoppers paper. Eventually she makes an informal agreement with Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) who have the resources to provide the child with a positive childhood.

The father Paulie (Michael Cera) begins to withdraw from the situation as he is frightened by the prospect of being a father. However, when he hears that Juno is in labor, he rushes to her side. A final decision must be made. Juno tells Vanessa, "If you're still in, I'm still in."

Ironically, both right-to-life groups and women's choice groups applauded the film. In some areas teenage pregnancies increased and this was dubbed the "Juno Effect". Sales of SunnyD swelled.

Ellen Page began acting as a child on Canadian television. She has continued in films as an actress but has diversified into producing.

"Juno" received four Academy Awards nominations at 2008 Academy Awards for Screenplay, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Ellen Page but only Diablo Cody won for Screenplay. It has a 94% freshness score from Rotten Tomatoes.

Answer: Bridesmaids

Lillian (Maya Rudolph) selects her best friend Annie (Kristen Wiig) for her maid-of-honor but Annie's choices become disastrous. Food poisoning causes chaos at the wedding gown fitting and a weekend in Las Vegas ends up in Casper, Wyoming. Lillian has to turn to Helen (Rose Byrne) to finish the wedding preparations.

Annie remains depressed about the failure of her bakery and as a wedding planner but sees some hope in her budding romance with a traffic cop. Melissa McCarthy, who played Megan the groom's sister, received an Oscar nomination for her role and moved from the 'B' list to the 'A' among character actresses.

Rotten Tomatoes found a 90% freshness and Roger Ebert said the film "definitely proves that women are the equal of men in vulgarity, sexual frankness, lust, vulnerability, overdrinking and insecurity".

Answer: Silver Linings Playbook

After his release from a mental health facility, Pat (Bradley Cooper) tries to pick up the pieces of his life. His father, Pat sr.(Robert De Niro) lives and breathes with the fate of the Philadelphia Eagles, so much so that he has been banned from the stadium. Meanwhile, Pat jr. has met Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a young widow with depression and relationship problems. She agrees to help him reconnect with his ex-wife Nikki if he will be her partner for a dance contest as dance is what she does for therapy. Meanwhile Pat sr has made poor bets on the Eagles and now bets that Pat and Tiffany will score a 5.0 or better in the dance contest.

Critics loved "Silver Linings Playbook". The film scored a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, which said that the film "walks a tricky thematic tightrope, but... sensitive direction and... a talented cast gives it... balance". The 2013 Academy Awards gave it eight nominations including all four acting categories. Jennifer Lawrence walked away with the Best Actress Oscar.

Answer: American Hustle

Viewers are warned that "some of this actually happened". The so-called 'Abscam' sting conducted by the FBI to trap congress members accepting bribes was later ruled as entrapment. Several characters were based on real life participants of the sting but the sequence of events is highly fictionalized.

Christian Bale plays Irving Rosenfeld and Amy Adams is Sydney Prosser - two con artists that are partners and lovers. Jennifer Lawrence is Irving's wife Rosalyn who does not want a divorce because she lives quite well on Irving's income and Irving does not want to lose contact with her son. One of their scams falls apart and they are recruited to assist in the abscam set by FBI agent Richard DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). The crazy plan works even when they goof up such as having a Mexican FBI agent impersonate an Arab sheik even though he doesn't speak Arabic.

Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 93% freshness score and "Time Magazine" said, "'American Hustle' is an urban eruption of flat-out fun - the sharpest, most exhilarating comedy in years. Anyone who says otherwise must be conning you." The film had ten Oscar nominations, winning none but posting a nomination in each of the four acting categories for Cooper, Adams, Lawrence, and Bale.

Answer: Little Miss Sunshine

The fun of "Little Miss Sunshine" is in the characters. Sheryl Hoover (Toni Collette) is a struggling mom; her brother Frank (Steve Carell) is gay, a scholar of Proust, and suicidal; Sheryl's husband Richard (Greg Kinnear) is a motivational speaker and life coach; Son Dwayne (Paul Dano) is a Nietzsche fan who has taken a vow of silence; Richard's father, Edwin, was evicted from a retirement home for snorting heroin; and sweet Olive (Abigail Breslin) aspires to become "Little Miss Sunshine" at a children's beauty pageant.

Much of the action takes place in a VW bus headed from New Mexico to California for the pageant and as such might be called a road movie. Each of the characters experience an element of growth during the journey. And Olive steals the show with her dance to Rick James' "Super Freak" but is asked not to return.

The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning two for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin. Rotten Tomatoes' score was 91%.