Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The sadistic infliction of bad movies to cause pain is, of course, the entire premise of "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie," a feature film reflecting the long-running TV show (which, curiously, was shorter than an episode of the TV show). What movie did they choose to make jokes about?
2. Ed Wood is a legend in cinema. Not because he's good. He had no talent at all for producing, or directing, or writing, or casting, or editing, or, well, anything relating to the actual creation of a film. What he did have was a burning desire to make movies, and he never let his lack of talent stop him. His dedication led a far more talented director to make a movie about him in 1994, where he was played by a far more talented actor. Who played Ed Wood in the movie "Ed Wood"?
3. "Hey, I have a great idea for a movie, even though I have no discernible writing, directing, or acting talent. Let's take a bunch of really offensive sketches from my cable access show, even though nobody watched it, and stitch them together. And, because it's offensive and no reputable studio or distributor will touch it, we'll call it 'The Underground Comedy Movie.' It can't miss!" Okay, no one actually said that. But someone should have. Anyway, the writer-producer-director behind this work of staggering sadism later became ubiquitous on direct-sale commercials, not just for the movie, but for products such as the "ShamWow!", and "The Slap Chop." Who's the pitchman?
4. There are movies that their creators must have cared deeply about, because they refused to abandon their creations in the face of near-insurmountable obstacles. "The Creeping Terror" is just such a movie. "The Creeping Terror" has almost no dialogue, with a narrator taking the place of the characters' voices. There are two theories about this unusual choice. The less interesting one is that the movie was filmed with a silent camera as a cost-saving measure. What's the more interesting one?
5. Directors have areas of expertise, such as John Ford's westerns, Woody Allen's New York character-driven comedies, and Hitchcock's suspense thrillers. Uwe Boll's body of work, which includes "Alone in the Dark," "House of the Dead," "BloodRayne," and the straight-to-video "Alone in the Dark II" and "BloodRayne II: Deliverance," makes him known for what directorial characteristic (aside from being really, really bad)?
6. I'm sure there are people out there who like Rob Schneider movies. They are definitely in the minority. One of his movies was panned by critic Patrick Goldstein. Schneider shot back with an ad that said, in part, because Goldstein had never won the Pulitzer Prize, he was unqualified to criticize the movie. Roger Ebert, in giving the film a zero-star review, replied, "As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks." What movie is under discussion?
7. Some movies are such bad ideas that you want to smack the producers on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper. A movie released in 2003 qualifies. The movie starred Kelly Clarkson, the winner of the first season of "American Idol," and Justin Guarini, the runner-up that season. In other words, the movie featured two people with no known acting talent at all. And the result was a terrible movie; so bad, in fact, that although theaters objected to 20th Century Fox's intent to release the movie on DVD and VHS within six weeks of the opening, they dropped that objection. In addition, the plans for a soundtrack album were dropped, not a good sign for a movie starring two pop singers. What was the name of this horrific film?
8. Movies made from "Saturday Night Live" sketches form their own genre. Most of them are terrible, but the worst has to be one starring Julia Sweeney and Dave Foley. On "SNL" the writers came up with a sketch where Julia Sweeney played a character with an incredibly annoying voice and manner (which is the premise for about 90% of their sketches), but with the twist that it was impossible to determine Pat's gender, as everything about the character (name, figure, behavior) was equally valid for both genders. Somehow, a one-note, one-joke character seemed like a good bet for a feature film, and one was produced in 1994. The result was so painful to watch that it was yanked from American theaters after only a single week. The box office receipts, according to Box Office Mojo, amounted to about $60,000, which is about how much a movie makes if the families of the cast and crew go to see it. What was the name of this gender-twisting abomination of a film?
9. I think the best length for a movie is about 100-120 minutes. Anything more than 120, the director better deliver a great movie ("Gandhi," "Reds," and "Lawrence of Arabia" leap to mind). One director, though, did not seem to get this concept. After Michael Cimino's movie, "The Deer Hunter," won the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars in 1978, United Artists let him have a long leash when he made his next movie. Cimino went off the deep end, spending $40 million on what was supposed to be an $11 million movie, and then delivering a movie that ran 5 hours and 25 minutes (325 minutes). Even after he was forced to cut the movie further, Cimino insisted on presenting a 3 hour 29 minute version. By one account, that version was still so bad that the audience declined to drink the free champagne. The movie lost $37 million, earning a place on anyone's worst box office bombs list. It also convinced the owners of United Artists to sell the studio. What's the name of the movie that, through Cimino's sadism, destroyed UA as an independent studio, his own reputation, and possibly the psyches of some innocent audience members?
10. If your movie's great, or at least your performance is, you get nominated for an Oscar. Until 1981, though, terrible movies and performances were unrecognized on the award circuit. Since 1981, though, a foundation has recognized the worst in film. The award ceremony is held one day before the Academy Awards, and "winners" receive a trophy valued at $4.79, consisting of a golf-ball sized Styrofoam fruit attached to a reel of Super 8 film, which is then spray-painted gold. As one might expect, many "winners" have elected to skip the ceremony, although Tom Green picked up his five for "Freddy Got Fingered" and Halle Berry picked up hers for "Catwoman" while holding her Oscar for "Monster's Ball." What's the formal title for the trophy?
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