Three Clues to a Movie Trivia Quiz

Answer: Taxi Driver

"Taxi Driver" was one of the rawest, most disturbing films of 1976 and it helped make Robert De Niro a household name. His depiction of Travis Bickle, the mad taxi driver, mixed the young man's dangerous thinking with his sad perspective on his life. Jodie Foster played Iris, the little girl that made her living on the street. Robert De Niro delivered a great performance as the taxi driver who has an obsession with guns and the squalor of life. And "You talkin' to me?" was the line he said into his mirror, intimidating his imaginary foes.

"Charlie's Angels" was a TV show, and a movie remake. None of the Angels were streetwalkers.

"McCabe and Mrs. Miller" had its share of hookers but none of them were actual children.

"Pretty Baby" was Brooke Shields' breakout film and was indeed about her character's prostitution as a child. However, this was a turn of the 20th century story placed in Storyville, New Orleans.

Answer: The Silence of the Lambs

"The Silence of the Lambs" brought its audience a startling and engrossing look at the inner workings of serial killers. Jodie Foster's portrayal of FBI trainee Clarice Starling was masterful, while Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter gave us shivers with his mention of the veggie he ate with a census taker's liver (fff-fff).

"Red Dragon" and "Manhunter" were both based on Thomas Harris' book "Red Dragon".

"Hannibal Rising" was based on Harris's book of the same name.

Answer: Jaws

"Jaws" was Steven Spielberg's summer blockbuster that made everyone nervous about ocean swimming. The mechanical sharks used in the film were so dicey that John Williams was called upon to create a score indicating the shark's approach. Too bad Martin Brody, the Amityville sheriff, couldn't hear it. Nor could Matt Hooper, the shark expert that Brody asked for help with the rogue shark. Brody kept telling Quint, the rough sea captain who was supposed to help them kill the great white, "You're going to need a bigger boat." He was right.

"The Abyss" is actually a watery science fiction story.

I don't know much about the other two mov8es except that they have sharks in them.

Answer: 50 First Dates

Adam Sandler's movies aren't usually my cup of tea but this one is pretty cute.
Henry, the vet at a Hawaiian Sea World-type attraction, meets Lucy at a local cafe and notices her building a house with her waffles. He talks with her and she suggests that they meet at the café the next morning. When he shows up, however, she says she doesn't recognize him. He learns that, due to a car accident, she has no short term memory. He goes through many trials but eventually wins her.

The other three movies are also Adam Sandler flicks.

Answer: Psycho

"Psycho", Alfred Hitchcock's great thrill and chill film, was very nearly never made. Hitchcock had to agree to turn his salary over to Universal Studios due to a lack of profits on earlier films. His bet paid off. Hitchcock's salary was small potatoes compared to the $15 million he earned for "Psycho".

The villain/protagonist Norman Bates has a very controlling mother. She murders a young embezzler in the shower and Norman cleans up after her. When the young woman's sister comes looking for her, she tries to confront Mrs. Bates in the the cellar but finds herself talking to the woman's corpse. If you haven't seen this movie, I'll hold back the ending.

"Shaun of the Dead" was my first Simon Pegg movie. He established his quirky but determined persona in this film.

"Rear Window" is also a Hitchcock thriller. The storyline is based on one man's belief that he has witnessed a murder. Considered one of the greatest Hitchcock works, it has stood the test of time very well.

Finally, "Cape Fear". Whether you've seen the 1962 or the 1991 version, we don't want to tangle with Max Cady!

Answer: Black Mass

"Black Mass", a 2015 Johnny Depp film with him playing the infamous Whitey Bulger, was based on a true story. It was taken from an actual case in Boston where Bulger agreed to shed light on Mafia (Italian, not Irish) doings in exchange for the FBI turning a blind eye to his own illegal activities. Whitey ran the Winter Hill gang. His FBI handler went to jail while Whitey went on the lam after it was discovered that he had continued to murder people during his connection with the FBI.

"Public Enemies", another Depp movie, was about John Dillinger, a real gangster.

"The Departed" is a brilliant fictional movie about South Boston's cops and gangsters.

"Kill the Irishman" relates the story of Cleveland mobster Danny Greene.

Answer: The Wizard of Oz

"The Wizard of Oz" remains a beloved allegory of the power of love against the forces of evil. Margaret Hamilton stole the show as the wicked witch who did her worst against Dorothy's friends, the Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. Her broomstick sky-writing "Surrender Dorothy" as the friends approached the Emerald City had everyone shaking in their boots.

"The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" as a movie didn't improve on C.S. Lewis's book but it had fine moments.

"The Golden Compass", book by Phillip Pullman, was a huge disappointment to many of the book's fans who either didn't like Pullman's anti-religious message or resented that it had been toned down.

Answer: The Elephant Man

"The Elephant Man" is based on real life sufferer Joseph Merrick. With a profoundly deformed head and body, Merrick led a horrible life as a freak show attraction until surgeon Frederick Treves brought him to London Hospital in the late 19th century. After many further trials, Merrick died there at age 27.

"Water for Elephants" is about 19th century circus love. There is an elephant in it.

"The Miracle Worker" was a well received movie about teacher Anne Sullivan's struggle with angry, spoiled little Helen Keller.

"Freaks", directed by Todd Browning, is not a film for the squeamish. But the point of the film is that the supposed freaks were the decent folk. It was the normal people that were, morally, freaks. They got their comeuppance eventually!

Answer: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" was accepted for preservation by the National Film Academy because it is, in their words, "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford, are train robbers in the Wild West. They are forced to hide in a robbers' safe house called Hole-in-the-Wall but must leave so other, not so hot robbers, aren't bothered by the cops chasing the duo.

"The Sting" is another amazing Robert Redford and Paul Newman collaboration, their second and last.

"Willie Boy" is another, much less memorable, Robert Redford work, also starring Robert Blake.

Answer: The Wild Bunch

"The Wild Bunch" is as much a story of our time as it is a solid Western. The message seems to be that violence is endemic, passed from one generation to the next. Mere children wield guns as old outlaws die. Pike Bishop wants to lead a peaceful life after one last big robbery. In 1913 Texas old bank and train robbers like him are going out of style. Although he and his associates manage to pull off a major train heist, they find that the supposed silver they stole was nothing but steel washers. Realizing that they need to escape from the trap set for them, they ride into Mexico and agree to bring U.S. arms in for a rebel leader. He too betrays them.

"Rio Grande" is another of John Wayne's Western hero movies.

The other two films are really superb Westerns.