Oscars of the '80s Trivia Quiz

Answer: Best Actor

"Driving Miss Daisy" won Best Picture in 1990, and believe it or not it won Best Makeup! This film was nominated for nine Oscars and won four. It wasn't even nominated for Best Director! Morgan Freeman, who delivered a great performance as Miss Daisy's (Jessica Tandy) black driver, didn't win Best Actor although most people do agree that Daniel Day-Lewis deserved it for his wonderful performance in "My Left Foot"

Answer: This is Spinal Tap

Although a fantastic movie, "This is Spinal Tap" wasn't nominated for any Oscar in the '80s. "Spinal Tap" was a hilarious fake documentary about a unsuccessful heavy metal band which told about their history and personality. Oh, and don't forget dead drummers!

"Dune"- Although a horrible film, "Dune" was nominated for Best Sound.
"Prizzi's Honor" was nominated for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor, Supporting actor, Costume and Editing. It won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress
"Ghost Busters"- "Who you gonna call? GHOST BUSTERS!" This film was nominated for Best Song and Best Visual Effects.

Answer: Robert Wise

Robert Wise was the director of early inspirational films such as "West Side Story" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still". Although he had nothing to do with Newman's award he was a close friends and accepted.

Answer: Johnny Carson

Johnny Carson hosted the most Oscars in the '80s. He hosted three. These hostings were in 1981, 1982 and 1984.

Answer: False

There were three taglines for this movie.

"His Triumph Changed The World Forever", "The Man of the Century. The Motion Picture of a Lifetime"

AND

"A WORLD EVENT It took one remarkable man to defeat the British Empire and free a nation of 350 million people. His goal was freedom for India. His strategy was peace. His weapon was his humanity."

These three taglines relate with "Gandhi" very well. The first one is true. His triumph did change the world forever. The second one is true as well. It was the motion picture of a lifetime. The third one keeps you hanging on to learn more about the plot. Mine is not very accurate since my use of "all time" and "big screen" sound very commercial for such and independent film!

Answer: Sissy Spacek

Even in her best performance - "Ordinary People" - Mary Tyler Moore did not win Best Actress. Spacek did for "Coal Miners Daughter". Spacek played country singer Loretta Lynn, Tyler Moore played a mother, Gena Rowlands played a female spy and Goldie Hawn played a war private.

Answer: Terms of Endearment

The amazing film "Terms of Endearment" was about a mother whose daughter was dying. Jack Nicholson played the superb Oscar winning supporting actor role and Shirley MacLaine won Best Actress. And it was so good it won Best Picture over acclaimed film "The Right Stuff" and friendship comedy offering "The Big Chill".

Answer: Platoon

"Platoon" was nominated for Best Screenplay but it was the only movie to not win Best Screenplay but win Best Picture. "Platoon" was one of the many war movies to win Best Picture. It took place in Vietnam where the main character faced a moral crisis and became confronted with the horrors of the war. That year, Woody Allen film "Hannah and Her Sisters" won Best Original Screenplay.

Answer: The Last Emperor

"The Last Emperor" won an amazing value of nine Oscars including Best Art Direction-Set Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Director, Film Editing, Original Score, Sound, Adapted Screenplay and of course the one and only Best Picture. It featured the biography of the emperor of China in Bernardo Bertolucci's beautiful film.

"Gandhi" and "Amadeus" won eight Oscars and "Out of Africa" won seven.

Answer: Fatal Attraction

"Fatal Attraction" doesn't seem that good nowadays, does it? It had such a cheesy cult plot where the main character fell in love with a woman who wanted to kill him! What a laugh! It was nominated for Best Picture! "Die Hard" was an action film with Bruce Willis, and very little shoot-em-up action films were nominated for Best Picture. "This Is Spinal Tap" was a comedy and very few silly comedies like that were ever nominated for Best Picture.

The first "Star Wars" was nominated for Best Picture but none of the sequels or prequels were.