Mixed Movie Mania Trivia Quiz

Answer: Goodfellas

"Goodfellas" opens with these words, spoken by Ray Liotta in the role of real-life gangster Henry Hill. The film shows how he achieves this ambition, alongside his criminal associates Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). It is widely acknowledged to be one of the best films about the workings of organised crime and is one of Scorsese's most acclaimed works.

Answer: True Romance

"True Romance" (1993) was not a huge success at the time of its release but is now something of a cult favourite. Dick, played by Michael Rapaport, is an aspiring Hollywood actor who is an old friend of the film's hero, Clarence Worley (Christian Slater). Without giving away too much of the plot of this great film, he is one of the few people to escape alive from the insane shoot-out that forms the movie's climax.

Answer: The Negotiator

All of the options are 1990s films in which Jackson played a major role. While "The Negotiator" is perhaps the least well-known of these, it is still an effective thriller, in which Jackson plays a Chicago Police Department hostage negotiator. When he is falsely implicated in an embezzlement case involving a police pension fund, Jackson's character ends up taking hostages himself in an attempt to clear his name.

The film, directed by F Gary Gray, was only moderately successful.

Answer: Kevin Spacey

In Ted Demme's black comedy "The Ref", Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey play a bickering married couple who are taken hostage by a crook (played by Dennis Leary). After numerous misadventures, they end up reconciled.

There are rather fewer laughs in David Fincher's "Seven", in which Kevin Spacey plays a psychopathic serial killer whose murders are inspired by the "seven deadly sins" of the Bible. Morgan Freeman plays one of the two cops tasked with tracking him down, the other being played by Brad Pitt.

Answer: Memphis Belle

"Memphis Belle" was directed by Michael Caton-Jones, and was inspired by a 1944 documentary about a real aircraft of that name, directed by William Wyler, who was at the time serving as a Major in the US Air Force. The 1990 version had an ensemble cast led by Matthew Modine as Captain Dearborn, the plane's pilot, and also gave Harry Connick Jr his first film role, as Clay Busby the tail-gunner.

Answer: American History X

Henry Rollins began his career singing in various rock bands, most notably Black Flag (1981-86), also appearing on television and radio. His movie career started promisingly, with a supporting role in the 1994 movie "The Chase" alongside Charlie Sheen and Kristy Swanson, followed by "Johnny Mnemonic" with Keanu Reeves in 1995. However, following a small role in the acclaimed "Heat", starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, Rollins' career faltered, and he ended up in such direct-to-DVD efforts as "Wrong Turn 2: Dead End" (2007) and the so-called "horror comedy" "He Never Died" (2015).

He did not appear in the 1998 crime drama "American History X", which starred Edward Norton and Edward Furlong.

Answer: Saving Private Ryan

Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan", which starred Tom Hanks as Captain John Miller and Matt Damon as the titular Private James Ryan, won five Oscars at the 71st Academy Awards, including "Best Director". The three actors listed in the question all played members of Captain Miller's detachment which is tasked with finding and rescuing Private Ryan, the last surviving of four sons. Giovanni Ribisi played the medic Irwin Wade, Tom Sizemore was Sergeant Mike Horvath, and Ed Burns played Private Richard Reiben.

Answer: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The International Movie Database (IMDB) tells us that the surreal romantic comedy "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", in which Carrey starred alongside Kate Winslet, was released in 2004. His 1990s filmography includes not only the other three movies listed, but also such popular and critical successes as "The Mask" (1994), "The Truman Show" (1998) and "Man on the Moon" (1999). Like him or loath him, you must admit that Jim Carrey is a prolific performer.

Answer: Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski directed several acclaimed movies during the 1960s and 1970s, including "Repulsion" (1965), "Rosemary's Baby" (1969), "Macbeth" (1971) and "Chinatown" (1974). In 1978 he fled America to escape a prison sentence for serious sexual offences, and his film career since then has been mixed. His supernatural thriller "The Ninth Gate" is regarded as a particular low point.

Answer: Michael Myers

Michael Myers is the killer in John Carpenter's original ground-breaking low-budget slasher movie "Halloween", released in 1978. Jason Voorhees is the hockey-mask wearing killer in the "Friday the 13th" series, the first of which was released two years later, in 1980.

The razor-gloved, hat-wearing psychopath Freddy Krueger made his first appearance in "A Nightmare On Elm Street" in 1984. Finally, the killer doll Chucky was the star of the 1988 film "Child's Play". All of these featured in numerous sequels and remakes.