Monday, August 17, 2009

Composition book.... of Doom!

Other than a jaunt out of town and back, the one thing I've been doing more than anything else is unpacking. By my estimation, the Cap'n has two more boxes to open and then the Apartment that Dripped Blood will start looking like somebody lives there. Of course, once somebody lives there, the demons will make sure that somebody dies there, probably the former "living tenant", but I digress.

A curious byproduct of unpacking boxes is finding things I'd forgotten about or just haven't looked at in years. For example, I just found the Movie Quiz, an oft mentioned relic of my college geekery that never made it online. I'm reasonably certain that if you slog your way through the "From the Vault" entries, you'll find a general explanation that amounts to this: fandom is not a pissing contest so there's no point in putting the Movie Quiz online, not to mention that you could use that Google toolbar to the right to immediately answer the tougher questions.

I had considered sticking to that declaration and not putting any of the questions online, but re-reading it, I found that there were a few interesting entries into the quiz that merited sharing. I'm beginning to wonder if the quiz was difficult not because of the trivia you needed but because of how I worded some of them. At any rate, here's a sample of the quiz that plagued many a friend ten years ago:

2. What American director did Akira Kurosawa credit as a prime influence?

13. What is Mel Brooks' cameo in Young Frankenstein?

23. Other than Nosferatu, name a literary adaptation by F.W. Murnau

48. Radiohead's "Exit Music (For a Film)" is exactly that. Name the film.

63. Name one sequence planned but never completed for Fantasia.

64. What character does Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh play in the film version?

66. Don't fuck with him, but what is the Jesus man's last name?

86. What was the first film to utilize "Cinemascope"?

100. How many times did George C. Scott play Patton?

138. What was the sister production to King Kong, shot on the same sets and using many of the same cast members?

140. What is the only film directed by Igmar Bergman to star Ingrid Bergman?

148. Roald Dahl wrote which James Bond film?

153. Katherine Beaumont voiced two Disney heroines back to back in the 1950s. Name them.

158. Which have there been more of: John Ford films featuring John Wayne or Martin Scorsese films featuring Robert DeNiro?

166. Of the Twilight Zone movie's four main vignettes, which one was not based on an episode of the original series, and who directed it?

There are many more, and what appears to be an aborted "guess the aspect ratio" page, which is even more ridiculous. Looking back, there are a few questions even I don't think I could answer anymore, so if you struggled over getting all of the quiz correct, take comfort in knowing even the Cap'n can't do it now.

Oh, and if you really want to answer them, feel free. You won't win anything other than respect amongst your fellow nerds, but sometimes that's enough. Right?

1 comment:

El Cranpiro said...

DAM that quiz. I never liked it, mostly because I could never answer any of the fucking questions. Like the ones you posted. I do not know any of them for sure. It made me sad me because I watch a lot of movies. Now and back then when the quiz first began. I bow to you Cap'n