Movie Quiz: Movies of 2009: 10 Questions | Movies by Year

Answer: Antichrist

'Antichrist' is a film by Lars von Trier, featuring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as its lead actors. Charlotte Gainsbourg is also a lead actor in Von Trier's movie 'Melancholia'.
The main characters, a man and a woman who don't have a name, retreat to their cabin in the woods to grieve. Instead of finding solace with each other they experience the evil and dark side of their nature.

Answer: Un Prophéte

'Un Prophète' is a French movie that was nominated for an Oscar (Best Foreign Language Film of the Year). It won a BAFTA award in the same category.
The film is about a young delinquent, Malik, who has to serve a sentence in jail for some minor crimes. He is a rather innocent boy and plans to do his time and then move on with his life. But in prison he is forced to work for a Corsican gang. Once he leaves prison, he has lost his innocence.

Answer: The White Ribbon

This movie by Michael Haneke explores the psychological history of Nazi Germany. The children in this movie will be the nation's leaders during World War II. 'The White Ribbon' was nominated for two Oscars, and won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Movie. Its German title is 'Das Weisse Band. Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte'.

Answer: Chloë Grace Moretz

In the few years after '(500) Days of Summer', Chloë Moretz has been featured in the movies 'Kick-Ass' and 'Let Me In'. In 2009, she was only 12 years of age. She was then considered to be an upcoming star.

Answer: A Serious Man

'A Serious Man' is the Coen Brother's 16th full length feature film. It was nominated for two Oscars. Many of their movies were nominated for an Oscar. Among their movies that actually won an Oscar are 'Fargo' and 'No Country for Old Men'. The main character, Larry Gopnik, is a Jewish man who takes things very seriously.

He does the best he can in life, but the people surrounding him seriously challenge him. His daughter steals from him, his wife cheats on him, and one of his students tries to bribe him. And so on. Perplexed by all this, he tries to find the meaning of it all, but his spiritual leaders don't seem to have any answers either.

Answer: Dakota Fanning

'Coraline' is based on the book by Neil Gaiman and was nominated for an Oscar. It is a children's movie, but because of its scary elements it received a PG rating.
Throughout the movie (and the book) her name is mispronounced as Caroline by several characters.
Dakota Fanning is also known for acting in movies such as 'War of the Worlds' (2005), 'Charlotte's Web' (2006), and the 'Twilight' movies (2009-2012).

Answer: Adventureland

Director and writer Greg Mottola is known for such comedy movies as 'Superbad' and 'Paul'. He is also involved in TV series 'Arrested Development'. 'Adventureland' is one of the last movies Jesse Eissenberg made before he had his breakthrough in David Fincher's 'The Social Network'.
Martin Starr acted in comedy series such as 'Party Down' and 'Freaks and Geeks'.
In 'Adventureland', a boy, James, has to work at a local amusement park so that he can go into college the next year. At his summertime job, he falls in love with Emily and learns a few life lessons, mainly about sex and love. Martin Starr plays his philosophical co-worker, Joel, who is highly educated but is stuck in this dead-end job.

Answer: Drag Me to Hell

Director Sam Raimi is know for movies such as the "Spider-Man" trilogy and the "Evil Dead" trilogy. The bank employee in this movie is played by Alison Lohman, who also featured in 'White Oleander' (with Michelle Pfeiffer) and 'Matchstick Men' (with Nicolas Cage). 'Drag Me to Hell' is a horror movie about a bank employee, Christine, who wants to make a career.

In order to impress her boss, she plays it hard with a gypsy woman by refusing her an extension on her mortgage payment. The woman then curses Christine.

A medium tells her that she will be tormented for three days, before she will be dragged into hell. Christine does everything she can to avert the spell. But will she succeed?

Answer: Watchmen

'Watchmen' was directed by Zack Snyder, who also directed '300' and 'Sucker Punch'. He is known for his music video clip style.
The Watchmen is a group of retired crime fighters who watch over humanity. Its members are Silk Spectre, Dr. Manhattan, Ozymandias, Rorschach, the Comedian, and Nite Owl.
The movie is based on the comic series with the same title by Alan Moore, who also wrote other comics that made it to the big screen: 'V for Vendetta', 'From Hell', and 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'.

Answer: District 9

This South African sci-fi movie received four Oscar nominations, including the Best Picture nod. Other nods were for visual effects, editing, and best adapted screenplay. The main character's name is Wikus van de Merwe, which is a Dutch (South African) name. The title of 'District 9' refers to a district of Johannesburg where aliens are confined. Those aliens arrived in their spaceship above the city in 1982.

When the government wants to move them to another district, things go terribly wrong. There always had been tensions between the aliens and humans. Now the situation is about to explode.

The main theme of the movie is xenophobia and segregation (apartheid).