The Title Counts Trivia Quiz

Answer: One Hour Photo

Seymour 'Sy' Parrish works at a one hour photo lab in a suburban mall. Since Sy never had many friends, he is quiet a lonely man. His only social condolence is getting to know people by developing and studying their photos - prominently among them the Yorkin family. When this starts becoming a pathological obsession things go rapidly downhill and finally escalate.

'One Hour Photo' is a movie from 2002 starring Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen and Michael Vartan.
Even if the movie was only moderately successful - earning approximately 55 million dollars with a budget of twelve million dollars - Robin Williams has won a Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for his performance as Seymour Parrish.

Answer: The Two Towers

Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee have left the broken Fellowship of the Ring and start travelling into Mordor on their own. Assisted by the nefarious Gollum they pass the Dead Marshes and draw closer to Mount Doom. Meanwhile, Saruman's army has grown to fearsome power and he begins his attack on the horse nation of Rohan.

'The Two Towers' is the second movie of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy directed by Peter Jackson.
Released in 2002, it stars (among others) Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen and the legendary Sir Christopher Lee, as well as Sir Ian McKellen.
'The Two Towers' won two Academy Awards: One for 'Best Visual Effects' and one for 'Best Sound Editing'.

Answer: Three Kings

A small group of soldiers, stationed in Iraq and led by Archie Gates, learn of a secret cache of gold in one of Saddam Hussein's bunkers. After finding a map which might eventually lead them to that hoard of treasure, they set out on the journey to wealth.

'Three Kings' is a movie from 1999 set in the Gulf War of 1991 and starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube.
The film was received fairly well by the audience and was re-released in 2004 when events in the Iraq region made the producers feel that the film was becoming relevant once more.

Answer: Four Weddings and a Funeral

Charles and a group of friends seem always to be attending weddings. When Charles meets Carrie at one of those occasions he immediately falls in love with her. As that feeling turns out to be mutual, Charles and Carrie overcome all difficulties and finally get together. (Ring the bells, huzzah!)

'Four Weddings and a Funeral' is a romantic comedy film from 1994 starring Hugh Grant and pretty Andie MacDowell.
Released in March 1994 it earned close to 250 million dollars worldwide and was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. It lost to 'Forrest Gump' and 'Pulp Fiction', though.

Answer: The Fifth Element

When the world is threatened by the evil Mangalores (and Zorg, of course) in the twenty-third century, the only hope for Earth is the Fifth Element, which protects mankind every five thousand years by using the four traditional elements: fire, water, earth and air. As it turns out that Leeloo is that element, Dallas must try his very best to keep her alive.

'The Fifth Element' is a 1997 movie starring Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich and Gary Oldman.
It was nominated for the Academy Award in Best Sound Editing (lost to 'Saving Private Ryan') and won several César Awards in 1998.
The movie had a budget of 90 million dollars and earned a total of 260 million dollars worldwide.

Answer: The Sixth Sense

Dr. Crowe is engaged in helping young Cole who constantly feels threatened by the spirits of deceased people. As the plot thickens, it turns out that those dead souls are in fact not endangering Cole but rather need his help in order to find eternal rest.

The thriller movie 'The Sixth Sense' was directed by M. (Manoj) Night Shyamalan and was his breakthrough as writer and director. 'The Sixth Sense' stars Bruce Willis as dead Dr. Crowe and Haley Joel Osment as Cole Sear.
It had a production budget of about 65 million dollars and earned a worldwide gross of about 670 million dollars.
The movie's line "I see dead people" is haunting (and tormenting, I might add) us since 1999.

Answer: Se7en

Slightly deranged John Doe embarks on a crusade against the sinfulness of man. Finding out his victim's vices he kills them by mirroring their deadly sins. When the plot culminates, John enrages Detective Mills to such an extent that he cannot refrain from falling to the sin of wrath: Mills executes John Doe.
("Because I envy your normal life, it seems that envy is my sin. Become vengeance. Become wrath." Brilliant, Mr. Spacey!)

'Se7en' is a 1995 thriller film directed by David Fincher which stars Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and an awesome Kevin Spacey as the serial killer John Doe.
'Se7en' had a budget of about 35 million dollars and grossed a worldwide total of about 330 million dollars.

Answer: 8 Mile

Rapper B-Rabbit's life has turned really complicated: problems with his pregnant girlfriend, an alcoholic mother, an unsatisfying job, no money and no hope. His one last chance is his only true passion: the rap music. All B-Rabbit must do now is win his next head-to-head rap contest.

'8 Mile' is a drama which was directed by Curtis Hanson in 2002. It stars Eminem, Kim Basinger and Brittany Murphy.
Despite rather low expectations the movie was well received by the audience. Especially Eminem was praised for his performance as rapper B-Rabbit and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for 'Lose Yourself'.

Answer: The Ninth Gate

Dean Corso is hired by book collector Boris Balkan who needs to find out whether his new acquisition 'The Nine Gates' is authentic. In order to fulfil his mission Corso travels the world and hunts down the last three remaining exemplars of the book. Unbeknownst to Corso, Balkan wants these books to open the gate to hell and free its master.

The 1999 thriller 'The Ninth Gate' is based on the 1993 novel 'The Club Dumas' by Arturo Perez. It was directed by Roman Polanski and stars Johnny Depp as book dealer Dean Corso.
'The Ninth Gate' wasn't received too well by the audience, consequently earning the producers only 60 million dollars with a total budget of about 40 million dollars.

Answer: The Ten Commandments

After Moses is left in a reed basket on the river Nile, he is discovered and saved by Bithia, the Pharaoh of Egypt's daughter. When his Hebrew heritage is revealed, Moses is cast out of Egypt. During his travel through the desert he is commanded by God to return to Egypt to free the Hebrews from their slavery.

There were several movies called 'The Ten Commandments' but the most successful one was the epic film from 1956 starring Charlton Heston.
'The Ten Commandments' earned the nomination for seven Academy Awards in 1957 and won the award for Best Visual Effects. Charlton Heston was furthermore nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - he lost to Sir Alec Guinness.

Answer: Ocean's Eleven

Danny Ocean returns from a long vacation in prison, only to find that his wife Tess now has a new lover, the casino owner Terry Benedict. Together with his friend Rusty (and nine other charming criminals) he devises a plan to rob Benedict's casinos and steal Benedict's woman.

'Ocean's Eleven' from 2001 is directed by Steven Soderbergh and is a remake of the 1960 movie with the same name starring Frank 'Ol' Blue Eyes' Sinatra and the Rat Pack.
The 2001 version includes George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts (among many others!) and had a budget of approximately 90 million dollars, receiving a total worldwide box office of about 450 million dollars.

Answer: 12 Monkeys

After a man-made virus killed billions of humans in the past, the convict James Cole is sent from the future to that past to gather knowledge about this epidemic. As it is believed that the 'Army of the Twelve Monkeys' is responsible for this genocide, Cole follows their traces and tries to prevent the inevitable.

'12 Monkeys' is a 1995 dystopian science fiction thriller directed by Terry Gilliam starring Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Madeleine Stowe and Christopher Plummer.
Brad Pitt won a Golden Globe Award for his performance and was furthermore nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (which he lost to Kevin Spacey).

Answer: Thir13en Ghosts

Cyrus Kritikos has a unique collection of horrible ghosts which is hidden away in his mansion. When Arthur inherits this house he and his children move in - and must now face the full fury of this supernatural evil.

'Thirteen Ghosts' is a remake of a 1960 film with the same name. This horror movie, directed by Steve Beck, is from 2001 and stars Tony Shalhoub (maybe best known for his role as former detective 'Monk') and F. Murray Abraham.
'Thirteen Ghosts' was received fairly negatively by the audiences and critics, earning a total box office of 70 million dollars with a budget of about 40 million dollars.

Answer: 300

The might of the Persian God-King grows, his vast army threatens to overrun the kingdom of Leonidas' Sparta. When negotiations between Xerxes and Leonidas fail, the conflict escalates. Now Sparta's king gathers his 300 most powerful warriors and starts out defending his homeland against the vast Persian army.

'300' was directed by Zack Snyder in 2007 starring Gerard Butler as Spartan King Leonidas.
Despite winning no major awards, the movie '300' was generally praised by the audience - it had a budget of 65 million dollars and earned the producers a worldwide total of about 450 million dollars.

Just to make this absolutely clear: I have, of course, no idea what kind of movie 'Houston 500' might be. Thank you.

Answer: Final Destination

Alex Browning and his fellow students are about to enter a plane in order to travel to France. When Alex gets a premonition that the plane will explode, he and several of his friends leave the doomed plane and survive the ensuing explosion. Unfortunately, their deaths were already planned by Death who now tries to correct the course of events.

'Final Destination' is the first of several horror films bearing this name. This movie is from 2000, it was directed by James Wong and stars Devon Sawa and Alison Larter.
Although 'Final Destination' was generally viewed critically by the audiences, it nevertheless had a final box office of more than 110 million dollars, making it a success when compared to a budget of about 20 million dollars.