Joel and Ethan Coen really tie this week’s film quiz together – 30 questions on subjects including movie locations, famous Bruces, and Coen brothers movies.
2024 will reportedly see Joel and Ethan Coen reunite to write and direct “a pure horror movie”, their first collaboration in six years, but before that, this week sees the UK cinema release of Ethan’s new comedy Drive-Away Dolls (read James’ 4-star review here). We hardly need an excuse to pack your Friday film quiz with questions about the many funny, nasty, and endlessly quotable films they’ve made to date, but we’ll take it!
Once you’ve completed all three rounds, you’ll find a link to a separate post with the correct answers at the bottom of this post. As always, this is all just for fun, but please let us know how you did in the comments (scores out of 30 this week!) and give us any other lovely feedback. And if you get it wrong, mark it zero – this is not ‘Nam, this is a quiz, there are rules…
ROUND ONE – This Week In Movie History
This round is about UK cinema releases and general film history from this week in years past – we’ve given you the year at the start of each question to help out!
1. 1999 – Back in cinemas now! In Fight Club, what is the first rule of Fight Club?
2. 1943 – Born this week, who directed the 1980s films Scanners, Videodrome, and The Dead Zone?
3. 2016 – What address is the title of a Cloverfield sequel starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman?
4. 1983 – In which film does Tom Cruise play high-school student Joel Goodsen?
5. 2020 – Which Valiant Comics character did Vin Diesel play in a superhero movie of the same name?
6. 1977 – Devils Tower in Wyoming is a pivotal location in which Steven Spielberg film?
7. 2005 – In which film does Will Smith play “date doctor” Alex Hitchens?
8. 1993 – Also born this week, who connects the 2020s films Free Guy, The Last Duel, and The End We Start From?
9. 2011 – What type of animal is Rango, in the animated western Rango?
10. 1988 – Twins stars Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger “both tried to kill Batman”, but which movie connects their respective co-stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Uma Thurman?
ROUND TWO – The Coen Brothers Round
Next, 10 questions about the movies of Joel and/or Ethan Coen, from their early funny ones to their later funny ones, with violent scenes scattered throughout!
11. In which film does Javier Bardem play serial killer Anton Chigurh?
12. Complete the title of the Coens’ Netflix western: The Ballad Of…?
13. Which Coens remake earned its star a Best Actor Oscar nomination: The Ladykillers or True Grit?
14. Who plays Llewyn Davis in 2014’s Inside Llewyn Davis?
15. In The Big Lebowski, what first name connects the Dude and Mr Lebowski?
16. Who plays a “trilogy of idiots” in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Intolerable Cruelty, and Burn After Reading?
17. … and in which 2016 film did he play yet another idiot, Baird Whitlock?
18. “And I guess that was your accomplice in the woodchipper.” Which movie features this quote?
19. In Raising Arizona, how many children do Mr and Mrs Arizona have?
20. Drive-Away Dolls is Ethan’s movie, but which Shakespeare play inspired a solo directorial outing for Joel in 2021?
ROUND THREE – Pot Luck
Let’s finish with a random selection of pot luck movie questions – these could come from any era, any genre, or any level of difficulty. Enjoy!
21. In the news! Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer are reuniting for a sequel to which 1984 comedy?
22. Which elephant connects a 1941 animated movie and a 2019 live-action remake?
23. Who was born earliest: Bruce Campbell or Bruce Willis?
24. What word goes before Creek, Girls, and Streets to make the titles of at least three different movies?
25. Which star of 1995’s Dangerous Minds appears in the music video for its lead soundtrack single, “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio?
26. Also in the news! How many National Treasure feature films have been released to date?
27. Which actor-turned-director plays Mary Corleone in The Godfather Part III?
28. “On every street in every city, there’s a nobody who dreams of being a somebody.” Which 1976 movie has this tagline: Rocky or Taxi Driver?
29. Who plays the Phantom in 1996’s The Phantom?
30. And finally, what name connects a 2021 crime drama starring Matt Damon and a fictional rock band in 2000’s Almost Famous?
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Ready for the answers?
That’s the end of this week’s film quiz – when you’re ready to check your answers, click here to get them (it’ll take you to another page) and let us know your scores in the comments below.
We’ll be back next Friday with another film quiz, but until then, check out Issue 48 of Film Stories Magazine, which features 50 all-new questions on subjects like sequel subtitles, famous taglines, and the movies of 1984. You can also listen to our suitably named film quiz podcast, The Film Quiz Podcast, which features Nick Helm asking movie questions and occasionally berating contestants for getting them wrong.
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