One-Word Movie Titles Trivia Quiz

Answer: Casablanca

One for the classic movie buffs, this 1942 film was often cited by critics and movie websites as one of the top films ever made. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid, "Casablanca" had everything from Nazis to romance and it was set in Morocco.

It followed the story of Bogart's character, a club owner in the titular city, who also happened to be dealing with issues regarding his ex-lover (Bergman). The film won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing at the Academy Awards and has appeared on several of AFI's listings including '100 Years... 100 Passions' (where it placed first). Director Michael Curtiz, who directed the film, was nominated for Best Director in four prior years while Humphrey Bogart wouldn't win Best Actor for a role until the 1951 film "The African Queen".

Answer: Inception

Winning four Oscars (but losing Best Picture to "The King's Speech"), "Inception" was the highest-grossing original film (non-sequel/remake, that is) to appear on the 2010 roster. Starring an ensemble cast consisting of Leonardo Dicaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Michael Caine, and others, "Inception" followed a group of individuals who weaved their way through dream states in order to implant a seed of an idea into one man's mind.

When they delved deeper, however, it was discovered that some horrible secrets lay dormant in the mind of one of their team members. "Inception" was the best-selling summer blockbuster in 2010 earning over $825,000,000 worldwide. Christopher Nolan also directed "The Dark Knight" which earned over $1,000,000,000 overall.

Answer: Jaws

"Jaws" was Spielberg's third film but it was his first major hit and his first step in becoming one of the most famous directors of the latter half of the 20th century. Released in 1975 and starring Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss, "Jaws" earned over $470,000,000 in the box office and, until "Star Wars" was released by Lucasfilms, it was the highest-grossing film ever released. Set on the fictional Amity Island, the movie followed a series of shark attacks and the plan to put an end to the evil shark lurking below the surface.

Although nominated for several Academy Awards, it lost Best Picture to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

Answer: Pi

First shown at Sundance in 1998, this psychological thriller starred Sean Gullette as a mathematician who encountered a strange 216-digit number and developed an obsession with determining its true meaning. When the number was connected to events in the Torah and the stock market, he found that his own psyche was being tested. Director Darren Aronofsky also directed "Requiem for a Dream", "The Wrestler", and "Black Swan" in later years. "Pi" was a box office success taking in over $3,000,000 in the box office after being made only from small donations.

Answer: Signs

After strange occurrences in their cornfield, a former priest (played by Mel Gibson), his brother (played by Joaquin Phoenix), and his two kids realized that otherworldly beings might have been making their way to Earth. Fate, faith, and family were all examined and put to the test as they tried to save themselves during what may have been an alien invasion. "Signs" was Shyamalan's third major hit film (taking in over $400,000,000 in the box office) after "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable". Featuring the notable 'Shyamalan twist', the movie was the last of his earlier works to receive mostly positive reviews before a slew of panned films (including "The Village", "Lady in the Water", "The Happening", and "Avatar: The Last Airbender").

Answer: Psycho

"Psycho" started as story following a woman on the run, Marion Crane, who had stolen $40,000 in cash from her office. About halfway through the movie though, Marion was killed in one of the most famous shower scenes ever filmed. As Marion's sister and lover tried to find out the truth behind her disappearance, a motel owner, Norman Bates (played by Anthony Perkins) tried to cover the tracks. "Psycho" was released in 1960 and became one of Alfred Hitchcock's most celebrated films.

The shower scene in particular, in which Janet Leigh was stabbed by a shadowy figure, was filmed over the course of a week.

Although nominated for four Oscars it won none; arguably, it is nevertheless one of the most famous thrillers ever created. In 1998, Gus Van Sant created a shot-for-shot remake of "Psycho" in colour, but it was very poorly-received.

Answer: Juno

Directed by Jason Reitman and written by then-unknown Diablo Cody, "Juno" started as a small Indie film with some big names (Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, and Ellen Page all star) but after the first few weeks of release it became much bigger than that.

Although originally costing $6,000,000 to make, it earned over $225,000,000. The movie was critically renowned, and ended up being nominated for four Oscars (including Best Picture, Director, and Actress) winning one for Diablo Cody's screenplay.

It originally premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival where it received a generous standing ovation, a clear indicator of the movie's success. The movie followed a pregnant teen struggling to cope with adoption issues, having a baby, and her own life.

Answer: Grease

"Grease" was one of the top films of 1978, earning nearly $400,000,000 overall and making its stars household names. John Travolta would follow "Grease" up with "Saturday Night Fever" in the 1980s while Olivia Newton-John would continue a strong music career. The movie followed two 1950s high-schoolers falling in love but being parts of two different cliques.

"We Go Together" was one of the last songs of the film containing nonsense lyrics including:
"We go together like rama lama lama ke ding a de dinga a dong
remembered for ever like shoo bop shoo wadda wadda yipitty boom de boom."

Answer: Twister

Written by Michael Crichton (known for "Jurassic Park" and "Congo"), "Twister was the second-most-profitable movie released in 1996 (second only to "Independence Day") earning nearly half a billion dollars in the box office. Starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, it followed a group of storm-chasers setting out to collect scientific information to better understand tornadoes and major storms.

The storms also acted as a backdrop to Hunt and Paxton's on-screen divorce which followed them throughout the movie like the computer-generated weather phenomena.

Although "Twister" received mixed reviews, it was nevertheless successful with viewers.

Answer: Avatar

Earning over 2.7 billion in the box office worldwide, "Avatar" overtook "Titanic" (also by Cameron) to become the highest-grossing film ever made upon its release in late 2009. A sci-fi epic set on the planet Pandora, "Avatar" took many years to create as Cameron claimed the technology required to film the movie had yet to be invented.

The movie starred Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver and was released to positive reviews. It followed a group of humans battling with an otherworldly race, the Na'vi, to expand their resource-mining company. At the Academy Awards in 2010, "Avatar" was bested by "The Hurt Locker" in the Best Picture and Best Director categories, but it did win both Golden Globe awards in the same fields.