Strange Motives Trivia Quiz

Answer: Super Size Me

"Super Size Me" was a major hit in the 2000s, mainly because it poked holes in the fast-food culture that had taken grip in the western world. For a month, Spurlock filmed himself consuming foods only from McDonald's locations-- three square meals a day-- to determine the short and long-term effects. Why? Simply to investigate the rise in obesity... you know... by joining the ranks. While Spurlock did gain weight and showed physiological changes, he did not become obese. The movie, however, was a huge success in the box office and ended up resulting in major changes to fast food menus worldwide, simply out of public awareness. It premiered at Sundance and earned almost $30,000,000 by the time it hit DVD.

As if undeterred, Spurlock created a TV show on the same basis by the name of "30 Days" in which he, his wife, and others, were forced to spend thirty days under crummy conditions. One episode had his family living with minimum wage; another involved living off the grid; another involved a thirty-day binge drinking session.

Answer: Cabin Fever

Only bad things seem to happen in the forest, am I right? Least of all things, people lose their judgment and have horrible motives for doing so. "Cabin Fever" brought five friends to a forested lake house for a relaxing getaway and set loose a flesh-eating bacteria. As they started to become infected, things only got worse-- one friend headed into the woods with a lot of beer to wait it out (as if that would work), while the others hid an infected member of their party in a shed (as if there were no other options). One girl, Marcy, made the foolish decision to shave her legs in infected water and made the nonsensical mistake of 'evening off both sides', as it would seem, since she didn't notice the damage she was causing. Perhaps it was to sleep with Paul, the main guy, again, because whose priorities need to be straight?

"Cabin Fever" was, nonetheless, a major hit for Roth. With a story spurned from his own experience with a horrible virus in Iceland, the movie went on to earn over $30,000,000 in the box office, allowing him to greenlight the torture-porn mainstay "Hostel", which he also wrote.

Answer: Pulp Fiction

Winner of the Cannes Palme d'Or and nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, "Pulp Fiction" was a gritty, postmodern film composed of several different stories and led by an all-star cast. While many of the stories intersected and made sense on a basic level, character motivations were often quite hazy. The briefcase, for instance, was simply a MacGuffin-- the audience was never supposed to know what was inside and why it was so important to the film. Further, characters made horrible rash decisions. Uma Thurman's Mia Wallace, for example, ended up taking unknown drugs 'just because', and required a shot of adrenaline to the heart to survive. Sigh.

"Pulp Fiction" contained one of the more popular MacGuffins, but films have used this odd plot device for decades, often to hide a truth that could either be completely irrelevant to a plot or extremely integral to its understanding if fully understood... though it never is seen. The briefcase could've contained anything from money to Bibles; it wouldn't have affected the plot.

Answer: Paranormal Activity

The spirit haunting Katie and Micah in this movie only got worse as the film progressed, no thanks to Micah's meddling, of course. While Katie wanted to repress the spirits as they returned from her past to reclaim her, Micah seemed to want to disturb things for no good reason, even seeking out a Ouija board (against his girlfriend's wishes) to evoke the demon. Well, as it was shown in the sequels, Katie only had the demon attack her because her sister sent the demon away from herself, but Micah's decision to be a catalyst certainly didn't help the family drama. Though he did pay for his actions...

"Paranormal Activity" was meant to be a realism-enforced found-footage film, so portraying baffling characters must've been in the cards. The movie was exceedingly popular (the most profitable independent film ever made) and resulted in numerous sequels with microbudgets afterward. In none of the movies do people ever seem to think to leave the house... though when they do I guess it doesn't matter anyways. But they don't know that!

Answer: Jurassic Park

Perhaps her naivete was showing? John Hammond's two grandchildren, left alone in an on-the-track Jeep in front of the T-Rex enclosure (in a rainstorm, no less) opted to signal for help with flashlights instead of hiding in the seatwells of the car like sane people-- a particularly confusing decision considering young Tim's penchant for all things dinosaur and Lex's own tech-savviness. It came down to Dr. Grant and Dr. Malcolm to save them (using flares), though the entire film was rife with bad decisions. Seriously... nature has its ways.

Despite all this, "Jurassic Park", as a film, was a great idea for Steven Spielberg. The movie earned over one billion dollars in the box office and propelled writer Michael Crichton to further fame. It spawned an immensely popular series and won three Oscars before losing its record-breaking box office gross to "Titanic".

Answer: Death Proof

Certainly one of the stranger killers of cinema, Stuntman Mike would take girls for rides in his car after getting to know them or, alternatively, drive after them and then crash everything to a destructive pulp, leaving the women in pieces in his wake. In the movie, he forced a vicious head-on collision, sustaining minimal damages inside his stunt car and killing five others. When he tried it again, however, the girls got the better of him. All in the name of insane desire and thrills though, right?

"Grindhouse" ended up being a box office flop for co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Both films found cult followings shortly after their release (which, in many countries, was done as a double feature).

Answer: Deep Blue Sea

"Snakes on a Plane" actor Samuel L. Jackson was once asked in an interview whether or not he preferred snakes over sharks-- he said yes, of course, because the sharks ate him. It's hard to determine why; he spent the movie playing a scientist partially responsible for enhancing the brain matter of three sharks in an attempt to find a cure for Alzheimer's. What resulted was a trio of super-smart sharks bent on escaping their high-tech ocean facility at all costs. At some point early on, knowing full well what was happening, Jackson's character decided to hold a rousing speech next to a pool of water, inadvertently getting munched on by a shark. Why did he stand there? Who knows?

"Deep Blue Sea" was a surprising hit for "Cutthroat Island" director Renny Harlin, earning over $150,000,000 in the box office and blowing up several sharks along the way.

Answer: Scream

"Scream", a tongue-in-cheek (heck, even obvious) satire of horror films involving a ghost-faced killer stalking Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott, was meant to subvert all expectations of slasher flicks and, in doing so, it revolutionized the genre in the 1990s. To do so, however, it seemed that Craven had to feature an unexpected two killers, the second of whom was really only in it for kicks. Stu's participation in the event seemed to be little more than 'just for the sake', which actually made it all a bit more twisted.

The "Scream" series continued to bend the rules to its whims in several sequels, all starring Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox (Arquette), and David Arquette. As a whole, the series earned over $600,000,000 in the box office.

Answer: Minority Report

Another Spielberg movie, "Minority Report", based on Philip K. Dick's sci-fi short story, followed a story in which crimes could be seen in the future by precognitive beings. When the head of the pre-crime division in Washington D.C., played by Cruise, was found to be a murderer (in the future), he was forced to go on the run. He had every bit of forewarning and training, but ultimately the choice was his and he felt every need to head to the scene of the crime. Why? Some just have to know.

"Minority Report" was a blockbuster hit earning over $350,000,000 in the box office; it was very well-received by critics.

Answer: Cloverfield

Starring a cast of relive unknowns (for the time), "Cloverfield" was hailed by critics before it was even released for its highly successful viral marketing campaign. Producer JJ Abrams, also in the spotlight for the TV show "LOST" at the time, formed the movie around a giant monster wreaking havoc on New York City, and put it through the lens of a single video camera. A group of partiers tried to head through the city to save a friend and then hitch a ride on the last flight out. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.

"Cloverfield", despite being a shaky film (containing characters with shaky motives) earned over $170,000,000 in theaters and introduced yet another gigantic creature to the ever-growing new York City skyline.