The Directors: Ron Howard Trivia Quiz

Answer: Grand Theft Auto

Sam (Ron Howard) and Paula (Nancy Morgan) want to get married but her father (Barry Cahill) objects, as he sees Sam as a fortune hunter. They elope toward Las Vegas, stealing her father's Rolls Royce in the process. The father offers a $25,000 reward for anyone who can stop them, thus encouraging a mad car chase by their reckless pursuers and a colossal demolition derby as a climax. They escape and eventually marry.

Critics panned the movie but it hit a niche audience and was a financial success. Later a lawsuit prevented the film from being used as a base for a video game as the copyright belonged to Rockstar Games.

Answer: Daryl Hannah

As a child Allen Bauer (Hanks) on a tourist boat sees a young girl in the water. Impulsively, he jumps into the water to meet her and surprisingly finds he can breathe. They touch and seem to have a chemistry. Deck hands rescue him but no one sees the girl except Allen. Years later he encounters a naked woman (Daryl Hannah) on the beach but she disappears into the water again. The girl, however, finds his wallet and comes ashore to find him but is immediately arrested for public nudity. She has legs on land but a tail in the water and cannot speak. She is released to Allen as his name is in the wallet. She learns to speak by watching television and calls herself Madison and has several adventures adjusting to society. Meanwhile Dr. Kornbluth (Eugene Levy) wants to capture her in order to study a new species and later to dissect her. Allen and his brother (John Candy) rescue her and Allen decides to join her in her underwater world.

Disney Studios, wanting to expand its market, had created Touchstone Pictures where they could release something other than "G" rated films and this was their first. It received only one Oscar nomination for its screenplay. The incorrect answers were all actresses who were considered for the part.

Daryl Hannah has appeared in a number of well received films including "Blade Runner" (1982), "Roxanne" (1987), "Wall Street" (1987), "Steel Magnolias" (1989) and "Kill Bill" (2003).

Answer: Cocoon

The residents find a new vigor in physical strength, agility, attitude, and sexual prowess. However, they are discovered by Walter (Brian Dennehy) who is keeper of the sleeping aliens. He allows them to use the pool as long as they keep it secret but the rumor mill is too efficient and soon it is filled by senior citizens draining all the life energy from it.

Veteran actor Don Ameche won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor but several other senior actors contributed to the film, including Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Jack Gilford, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, and Gwen Verdon.

"Variety's" review said "a fountain of youth fable which imaginatively melds galaxy fantasy with the lives of aging mortals in a Florida retirement home [and] weaves a mesmerizing tale." It won an Oscar for special effects. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an 80% rating. If the film has a weakness it might be in the somewhat contrived ending but on the other hand it treats the characters as people and not aging stereotypes and does not resort to modifying their personal appearance.

Answer: Steve Martin

Steve Martin began his career as a stand up comedian and comic writer but became an actor equally comfortable in both comic and dramatic roles. Some of his best performances are "The Jerk" (1979), "Roxanne" (1987), and "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" (1987). He has also published novels, plays the banjo. and is an art collector.

Gil doubts his ability to be a capable father as all three of his children have issues. On the day he loses his job his wife Karin (Mary Steenburgen) announces she is pregnant.

Gil's sister, Helen (Dianne Wiest), is a single mom and concerned about her pregnant daughter Julie (Martha Plimpton) married to slacker Tod played by Keanu Reeves who has moved in with her. Wiest earned an Oscar for her supporting role.

Gil's brother, Larry (Tom Hulce), is unreliable and deserts his son.

Gil's other sister, Susan (Harley Jane Kozak), is married to Nathan (Rick Moranis), a scientist. They are obsessed with raising the perfect child.

The film got a 92% rating from Rotten Tomatoes and was spun into two television series. The first was in 1990 and was cancelled after low ratings after 12 episodes. The second series in 2010-2015 was more successful.

Answer: The Okahoma Land Rush

An Irish couple (Cruise and Kidman) with difficulties in their own country, emigrate to the United States. After a series of adventures, they end up in the great Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. President Benjamin Harrison signed a document opening up two million acres of land to homesteaders. The event was previously filmed in "Cimarron" in 1931 and 1960 but the cinematography is better here.

Other than that there is not much positive to say about the film. Roger Ebert said ""Far and Away" is "a movie that joins astonishing visual splendor with a story so simple-minded it seems intended for adolescents... It's depressing that such a lavish and expensive production... could be devoted to such a shallow story". But it made nearly two and a half times its cost, a true demonstration of star power. My wife and I contributed to the cause but the 2 hour and 20 minute running time felt like four or five hours. They were named "worst screen couple" at the Raspberry Awards that year.

Answer: Ed Harris

Ed Harris is a leader in ground control. Malfunctions plagued the flight. Although the ship did reach to dark side of the moon, it was deemed not safe for them to attempt a lunar landing. The astronauts go into a survival mode with a goal of returning to Earth. They make as many repairs as they can manage and with some difficulty are able to make an ocean landing.

Veteran actor Ed Harris said he had quite a learning curve to overcome to master the role of mission control. Howard said that all the scenes would be filmed and no footage from the actual mission would be used. He required his actors to go through modified astronaut training.

The film received nine Oscar nominations winning for film editing and sound. Rotten Tomatoes scored it 95%.

Answer: A Beautiful Mind

John Nash was a mathematical wizard. He seemed always to be ahead of his peers and at times displayed arrogance. However, his temperament sent him into a spin of paranoid schizophrenia. Through treatment and understanding he finds his way out of that dark place and wins a Nobel Prize.

The film serves two purposes. One is to tell Nash's story and the other to create a better understanding of the causes and treatment of mental illness. In addition to Best Picture, Howard was named Best Director. In total the film had eight nominations including Jennifer Connelly for Best Supporting Actress and for screenplay. Rotten Tomatoes' rating was 75%.

Answer: Jesus, not John, wrote the book of Revelations in the Bible

Langdon along with cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou) are at the Louvre where a curator is murdered by an albino priest. They begin to follow clues and solve puzzles. What happens is that they find an alternate Biblical history that runs counter to generally accepted story of the New Testament that Jesus did not die on the cross, married, had children, and has decedents who are protected by religious organizations, Priory of Sion and Opus Dei. One such clue is that Da Vinci painted "The Last Supper" that contained a representation of Mary Magdalene.

The Vatican was upset mostly about inaccuracies in the film and the film was either banned or highly censored in many countries, particularly the Middle East and later by nations such as China, India, and the Philippines.

In April 28, 2006, a Vatican curial department called for a boycott of the film as the movie is "full of calumnies, offences, and historical and theological errors".

The National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation expressed concern about the stereotyping of people with albinism.

The film was raked across the coals by critics. It achieved only a 25% freshness rating from Rotten Tomatoes based on over 200 reviews. The Raspberry Awards nominated Ron Howard for Worst Director. Howard said that the negative reviews were "frustrating" to him. My wife and I noted that there were no protesters when we saw the film but that we were verbally assaulted in 1988 when we saw "The Last Temptation of Christ".

Trying to make sense of this is difficult. The reviews of the book were equally vicious. Perhaps the reviews of the movie were tainted by the book's reception. When pop culture challenges deeply held beliefs, something has to happen. If one judges the film based on it being a mystery in the framework of imagined alternate history, and not with preconceived notions, it might prove more acceptable.

The film grossed $758 million worldwide and was only the second film that year to gross over $200 million domestically.

Answer: Prostitution

Henry Winkler plays a burned-out stock broker who has found some contentment as an attendant at the morgue. Over his protests he is made night supervisor and is given the boss' hippie nephew (Keaton) to train. They become acquainted with a young prostitute Belinda (Shelley Long) and with a display of entrepreneurship, they create a bordello in the morgue.

Both Winkler and Keaton were nominated for acting by minor film societies. Rotten Tomatoes found it fresh with 92%. Besides Long, Richard Belzer, Kevin Costner, and Shannen Doherty make early screen appearances.

Answer: "EDtv" - talking horse

Matthew McConaughey stars in "EDtv" (1999), a comedy about an ordinary guy who becomes the center of a reality TV program. Considered a flop at the time, the film has a strong supporting cast and is something of a cult favorite.

"Willow" (1988) was based on a story by George Lucas who asked Howard to direct. It got mediocre reviews and faced stiff competition at the box office that year but did receive two Oscar nominations for sound and special effects.

"Cinderella Man" (2005) is biographical film based on the life of James J. Braddock who briefly held the world's heavyweight championship in the 1930s.

Jim Carrey starred as the Grinch in this holiday film "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000). The Grinch is a misanthropic green creature who despises Christmas but his heart is softened by a little girl.