If Films Spawned Classified Ads Quiz

Answer: The Hangover

In "The Hangover" (2009), a bachelor's party in Vegas goes horribly wrong when a group of guys wake up the morning after with terrible hangovers, no memory of what they did the night before, and the groom nowhere to be found. They have to rely on the clues left behind to piece together the events of the previous night, among them a mattress from their suite in Caesars Palace, which had apparently been thrown off the roof of the hotel and impaled on one of the ornamental statues that adorn the building. Ultimately, the mattress proves to be the vital clue to the location of Doug, the groom. The guys eventually remember that they had carried the sleeping Doug on his mattress and locked him on the rooftop as part of a drunken prank. Doug had thrown his mattress off the roof to signal his whereabouts, but of course the group had no memory of leaving Doug on the roof in the first place. They manage to bring Doug back in time for his wedding, no worse for wear, apart for a bad sunburn from being locked on the roof for the entire day.

This hilarious film starred Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham and Justin Bartha.

Answer: Cast Away

In "Cast Away" (2000), Chuck Noland, a FedEx employee, is the sole surviving passenger after the FedEx plane he is traveling on crashes into the Pacific Ocean. Chuck washes up on a deserted island, along with several packages from the plane, including one containing a volleyball manufactured by the Wilson Sporting Goods company. Chuck does his best to master the skills required to survive on the island, but the isolation soon takes its toll on him. After a mishap results in Chuck marking the volleyball with his bloody handprint, he fashions the handprint into a face and begins talking to the ball. He names the ball Wilson, and it becomes his sole companion on the island for four years. Eventually, Chuck manages to construct a sailing vessel from scraps of material that wash up on the island and uses it to make his way back to civilization. Tragically, before Chuck is rescued by a passing ship, Wilson falls overboard and is lost in the ocean.

"Cast Away" starred Tom Hanks and, for most of the film, featured a volleyball as his only co-star.

Answer: Crash

"Crash" features several interlocking stories about racism in Los Angeles. In one story, a Persian storekeeper purchases a gun for protection, despite the protests of his daughter, who doesn't like the idea of her father owning a gun. His store is burgled and vandalized the day after he is warned about his faulty backdoor by a locksmith, whom the storekeeper mistakenly blames for his misfortunes. He discovers where the locksmith lives and goes to confront him and obtain revenge for the loss of his livelihood. Just as he is about to shoot the locksmith on his front lawn, the locksmith's young daughter runs up to shield her father from the bullet, believing that she is wearing a magical protective cloak. Miraculously, the locksmith and his daughter walk away unscathed from the gunshot. We later learn that when the storekeeper's daughter was choosing ammunition at the gun store, she selected a box of blanks for her father.

At the 2006 Oscars, "Crash" picked up the Academy Awards for Best Editing, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture.

Answer: Finding Nemo

In "Finding Nemo" (2003), Marlin, an overprotective clown fish, is forced to confront his worst fears when his only son, Nemo, is captured by a diver off the Great Barrier Reef. His only clue to his son's whereabouts is a diving mask left behind by Nemo's abductor. He is helped along by Dory, a surgeonfish who is able to read the name and address written on the strap of the diving mask - "P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney, NSW". After a scuffle with some sharks and a nasty anglerfish, the mask is left behind at the bottom of a deep sea trench, but not before Dory has committed the address to memory. With his new-found companion, Marlin rides the East Australian Current and braves all sorts of dangers to make his way to Sydney to rescue Nemo.

In February 2004, "Finding Nemo" became the third film to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

Answer: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (2007) is Tim Burton's big screen adaptation of the Sondheim musical of the same name. Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) returns to London after 15 years of exile, determined to get revenge against the corrupt judge who destroyed his life. He adopts the name Sweeney Todd, and returns to his old home on Fleet Street above Mrs. Lovett's pie shop. A talented barber in his previous life, Todd is reunited with his straight razors in the song "My Friends", in which he describes the blades as his "faithful friends" and sings about how they "glisten" and "shine", and will soon "drip precious rubies". In the song "A Little Priest", Todd and Mrs. Lovett hatch a plan for Todd to kill off his customers in order to provide a steady supply of meat for Mrs. Lovett's pies. The devilish pair look out the shop windows and sing about how each pie would turn out if it was made from priest, poet, lawyer, vicar or green grocer.

In 2008, "Sweeney Todd" secured three nominations at the Academy Awards, including a nod for Johnny Depp for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Answer: Signs

In "Signs" (2002), Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is a reverend who has become disillusioned about his religion since the accidental death of his wife, Colleen. He lives on a farm with his two children and his brother, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), a former minor league baseball player. When aliens invade Earth, Graham is tested on the question that he posed to Merrill in the middle of the film - do you believe that we are not alone, and that someone somewhere is looking out for us, or are you someone who just believes in lucky coincidences? As he stares down the lone alien invader threatening his son, Morgan, in his farmhouse at the end of the film, Graham recalls the last words of his dying wife ("Tell Merrill to swing away") and realizes that they hold the key to their survival. He passes the message to Merrill, who takes up his home-run bat, mounted on the wall, and starts swinging. Merrill is able to dispatch the alien fairly easily after realizing that the aliens can be harmed by water, thanks to the numerous half-drunk water glasses left all over the farmhouse by Graham's young daughter, Bo.

"Signs" was a bit of a mixed bag from writer/director M. Night Shyamalan - part alien invasion movie and part faith-affirming drama. The film was a financial success but fared less well with the critics.

Answer: Match Point

Chris Wilton, a tennis instructor, marries into a well-to-do family, but begins an ill-advised affair with Nola, the former fiancée of his new brother-in-law. When Nola proves to be more trouble than she's worth, Chris devises a plan to get rid of her for good. Chris kills the old lady who lives across the hall from Nola, and steals her jewelry and some pills to make it look like a drug-related robbery. He then waits for Nola to come home and shoots her in the hallway, so that the police will think that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He dumps the jewelry into the river, but the wedding ring hits a bannister on the way into the river and lands on a ledge. This proves to be lucky for Chris, as he is cleared of suspicion for the murders after the ring is recovered from the pocket of a murdered drug addict, who must have found the ring by the side of the river.

"Match Point" starred Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson and Emily Mortimer and marked a welcome return to form for writer-director Woody Allen.

Answer: Sideways

In "Sideways" (2004), Miles (Paul Giamatti) is an English teacher and failed writer, who takes his uncultured friend, Jack (Thomas Haden Church), on a wine appreciation tour of Santa Ynez Valley on the eve of his wedding. During the trip, Miles hits it off with a waitress named Maya (Virginia Madsen), and the pair connect over their shared love of wine. When Miles reveals that the prized piece of his modest wine collection is a 1961 Château Cheval Blanc, which he has been keeping for a special occasion, Maya responds by saying, "You know, the day you open a '61 Cheval Blanc... that's the special occasion." The bottle of wine becomes a metaphor for a life unlived. After a series of professional and personal failures, culminating in his discovery that his ex-wife has remarried and is expecting a child, Miles drinks his prized wine surreptitiously out of a foam cup in a fast-food restaurant. The film ends with some hope that Miles will be able to reconnect with Maya.

"Sideways" was nominated for five awards at the 2005 Academy Awards, and took away the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Answer: The Pursuit of Happyness

The scene is San Francisco in 1981, and Chris Gardner is down on his luck. His life savings are all tied up in these state-of-the-art bone density scanners that he can't seem to sell, and he is struggling to make ends meet while trying to care for his young son. When the opportunity arises for Chris to apply for the Broker Trainee Program at Dean Witter Reynolds, he sees it as his ticket to a brighter future for him and his boy. Chris tries to arrange a meeting with Mr. Twistle, the Dean Witter executive in charge of the internship, to talk about his application, but the only time he can grab with the busy stockbroker is during a midday cab ride across town. For most of the journey, Mr. Twistle is distracted with solving the latest fad - a Rubik's Cube - and is not paying attention to Chris's pitch, so Chris takes the puzzle from Twistle in frustration and claims that he can solve it. Chris impresses Twistle by solving the puzzle before they reach their destination, and as a result secures an interview and the internship, which turns out to be a turning point in his life.

"The Pursuit of Happyness" was based on a true story, and starred Jaden Smith and his real life father, Will Smith, who secured a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his role as Chris Gardner.

Answer: Love Actually

"Love Actually" features about eight interlocking love stories, both conventional and unconventional, set in and around London over Christmas. In one story, Harry (Alan Rickman) is married to Karen (Emma Thompson), and is trying to purchase an expensive necklace from a ridiculous sales clerk (played by Rowan Atkinson) without his wife finding out. She later discovers the necklace in Harry's coat pocket, and is overjoyed by what she assumes is her husband's Christmas gift for her. When she finally unwraps Harry's Christmas present to her and discovers that it is Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" CD, she realizes that the necklace was actually intended for someone else. Heartbroken, she excuses herself to the bedroom so that her family won't see her crying. Karen later confronts Harry about the necklace, which he had purchased for his new (and extremely flirtatious) secretary, and gets him to admit that he was in the wrong, and "a classic fool". Karen and Harry are shown to still be together at the end of the movie, but we get the sense that their marriage may never be the same again.

This charming film opened to generally favorable reviews, and has become a holiday rom-com favorite of movie-goers everywhere.