192 Film and TV Trivia Questions and Answers
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Easy Film and TV Trivia Questions
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In 2001: A Space Odyssey, what is the name of Discovery One's onboard computer?
HAL 9000
HAL 9000 runs every system aboard Discovery One on its voyage to Jupiter, and turns on the crew when its orders collide with the mission.
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Which film includes the line "You can't handle the truth!"?
A Few Good Men
Colonel Jessup shouts this line during the courtroom climax of A Few Good Men.
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Which horror franchise features a dream-stalking killer with a bladed glove?
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Wes Craven wrote and directed the 1984 original. Robert Englund played Freddy Krueger, the burned killer with the signature clawed glove, across the franchise's original run through 2003.
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What brand supplies Wile E. Coyote's gadgets?
ACME
ACME is the recurring fictional supplier of Wile E. Coyote's gadgets.
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What relic does Indiana Jones seek in his debut adventure?
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant is the relic Indiana Jones seeks in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
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Who directed the film Avatar?
James Cameron
James Cameron wrote an early treatment for the story in 1994. He then waited over a decade for CGI and 3D camera technology to catch up before filming and releasing it in December 2009.
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What is Batman's real name?
Bruce Wayne
Batman is the crime-fighting identity of Bruce Wayne, the wealthy Gotham City businessman behind the mask.
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What breed is Snoopy?
Beagle
Snoopy is Charlie Brown's pet beagle.
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Which animated Disney film won the Oscar for Best Original Song for its title song?
Beauty and the Beast
The title song from Beauty and the Beast won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
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What is the name of the fictional African kingdom in Black Panther?
Wakanda
Wakanda is the technologically advanced fictional kingdom ruled by T'Challa. Its hidden wealth and technology are linked to the fictional metal vibranium.
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Which television series features Walter White and Jesse Pinkman?
Breaking Bad
Walter White and Jesse Pinkman are the central characters of Breaking Bad.
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What is the Hulk's civilian name?
Bruce Banner
The Hulk is the powerful alter ego of Bruce Banner.
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In film and TV, what is a cameo?
A brief appearance by a well-known person
A cameo is a very short on-screen appearance by someone the audience will recognize, often a famous actor, the director, or the author of the book being adapted. Many are uncredited and last only seconds.
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Who played Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy?
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher played Princess Leia throughout the original trilogy.
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What vegetable is Bugs Bunny famous for eating?
Carrot
Bugs Bunny is famously depicted eating carrots.
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Which film features the line "Here's looking at you, kid"?
Casablanca
Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine says it to Ilsa four times in Casablanca, most famously as they part on the airfield at the end.
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Which horror franchise centers on a murderous Good Guy doll?
Child's Play
Child's Play introduced Chucky, a murderous doll inhabiting a Good Guy toy.
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Who directed Citizen Kane?
Orson Welles
Orson Welles directed and starred in Citizen Kane.
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In filmmaking, what does CGI stand for?
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery covers anything drawn by a computer rather than filmed, from a whole creature to a removed wire.
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Which British network has broadcast Coronation Street since its debut?
ITV
Writer Tony Warren originally titled the show Florizel Street. As the story goes, a cleaner at Granada Studios complained it sounded like a disinfectant, so it was renamed before the first episode aired.
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Which publisher publishes Batman?
DC Comics
Batman is a flagship character of DC Comics.
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Which superhero team counts Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman among its members?
The Justice League
The Justice League first assembled in 1960 and brings DC's biggest names together, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and Aquaman.
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What is Wonder Woman's secret identity?
Diana Prince
Wonder Woman commonly uses the civilian identity Diana Prince.
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Which film was Disney’s first full-length animated feature?
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Disney’s first full-length animated feature, released in 1937. Its success helped establish animated films as a major form of cinema.
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What is the Doctor's time machine called in Doctor Who?
TARDIS
The Doctor travels through time and space in a TARDIS.
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Which TV series follows advertising executive Don Draper?
Mad Men
Mad Men follows Don Draper and his colleagues at a 1960s Madison Avenue advertising agency. The title refers to the nickname for advertising executives working on Madison Avenue.
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Which film introduced "Bond, James Bond"?
Dr. No
James Bond first introduces himself with this line in Dr. No.
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Which 1931 Universal horror film stars Bela Lugosi as a vampire count?
Dracula
Dracula is the 1931 Universal film starring Bela Lugosi in the title role.
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Which TV sitcom features the fictional paper company Dunder Mifflin?
The Office
Dunder Mifflin is the paper company at the center of the American version of The Office. Most of the series takes place in its Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch.
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Who played the title character in Edward Scissorhands?
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp played Edward, an artificial man with scissors for hands, in Tim Burton's 1990 fantasy film. The role began Depp's long creative collaboration with Burton.
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Ethan Hunt is the central character in which film franchise?
The Mission: Impossible franchise
Tom Cruise performs many of the series' biggest stunts himself, including a real climb up the Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol and an actual HALO parachute jump in Fallout. Hunt first appeared on screen in 1996, decades after the franchise's roots in a 1966 TV series led by a different IMF agent, Jim Phelps.
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Which film was the first feature to include sequences of synchronized spoken dialogue?
The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, was mostly a silent picture with title cards, but its Vitaphone sequences carried Jolson's songs and a few lines of spoken dialogue, and its success pushed Hollywood into sound within two years.
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What device enables time travel in Back to the Future?
Flux Capacitor
The Flux Capacitor makes time travel possible in Doc Brown's DeLorean.
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Who played the title character in Forrest Gump?
Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role, his second Oscar in a row after winning for Philadelphia the previous year.
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Which film includes the line 'Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates'?
Forrest Gump
Forrest repeats his mother's saying while waiting on a bus-stop bench in Forrest Gump, and it became the film's signature line.
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Which 1931 film made Boris Karloff's reanimated creature iconic?
Frankenstein
Frankenstein introduced Boris Karloff's iconic reanimated creature in 1931.
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Which horror franchise is set around Camp Crystal Lake?
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th introduced the Camp Crystal Lake setting and Jason Voorhees.
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What is the name of the coffee shop frequently visited by the friends in Friends?
Central Perk
Central Perk is the fictional coffee shop where the Friends characters regularly meet. Its orange couch became one of the sitcom's most recognizable set pieces.
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What is the name of the kingdom ruled by Elsa and Anna in Frozen?
Arendelle
Elsa and Anna are princesses of Arendelle, the fictional Scandinavian-inspired kingdom in Frozen. Elsa becomes its queen at the start of the story.
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What is SpongeBob's job at the Krusty Krab?
Fry cook
SpongeBob works as the Krusty Krab's fry cook.
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Who directed The Godfather?
Francis Ford Coppola
Coppola directed the 1972 crime drama from Mario Puzo's novel. Its success helped make the film one of the defining American productions of the New Hollywood era.
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Who played Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather?
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando played Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather.
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Which giant monster, roused by nuclear testing, has starred in Japanese films since 1954?
Godzilla
Godzilla first came ashore in 1954 as a creature woken and mutated by nuclear tests in the Pacific, made less than a decade after Hiroshima. The series has run ever since, one of the longest in cinema.
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In The Lord of the Rings, what kind of being was Gollum originally?
Hobbit
Gollum was originally a Hobbit named Sméagol before the One Ring corrupted him. His long possession of the Ring transformed both his body and his personality.
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Which fictional city does Batman protect?
Gotham City
Batman has patrolled Gotham City since 1940. The name was lifted from an old nickname for New York, and the city was drawn as a deliberately grim counterweight to Superman's gleaming Metropolis.
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What kind of dog is Scooby-Doo?
Great Dane
Scooby-Doo is portrayed as a Great Dane.
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Who played Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford played archaeologist Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
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Which Hogwarts house is Harry Potter sorted into?
Gryffindor
Harry is sorted into Gryffindor, the house associated with courage and bravery. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are sorted there as well.
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Which TV series is primarily set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana?
Stranger Things
Stranger Things follows a group of friends in Hawkins as they encounter supernatural threats linked to the Upside Down. The series blends 1980s adventure, horror, and science fiction.
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Who portrayed the Joker in The Dark Knight?
Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger portrayed the Joker in The Dark Knight.
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Who played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films?
Emma Watson
Emma Watson portrayed Hermione Granger throughout the eight Harry Potter films. Hermione is known for her intelligence, preparation, and loyalty to her friends.
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Which film was the highest-grossing worldwide release of 2023?
Barbie
Barbie earned more than $1.4 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing release of 2023.
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What food does Winnie-the-Pooh love most?
Honey
Honey is Winnie-the-Pooh's signature favorite food.
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In the Avengers films, which artifact can hold all six stones?
Infinity Gauntlet
The Infinity Gauntlet is designed to hold and channel all six Infinity Stones. Thanos uses it to wield their combined power with a single snap.
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Which Pixar film personifies Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust?
Inside Out
Inside Out personifies five emotions guiding a young girl's mind during a major life change. The film was praised for turning an abstract psychological idea into a colorful adventure.
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What does IMDb stand for?
Internet Movie Database
It began in 1990 as a Usenet list of actresses' credits before becoming a website.
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Who played Jack Dawson in Titanic?
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio played the fictional passenger Jack Dawson opposite Kate Winslet in Titanic. The role helped make him one of the most recognizable stars of the 1990s.
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Who directed the 1975 film Jaws?
Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg directed Jaws, the thriller that made the great white shark a landmark movie monster. Its success helped establish the modern summer blockbuster.
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Who played Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs?
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster portrayed FBI trainee Clarice Starling.
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Who played the title role in Mary Poppins?
Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews played Mary Poppins in the 1964 film.
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Who directed Jurassic Park?
Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg directed Jurassic Park.
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Which 1933 adventure film centers on a giant ape captured on Skull Island?
King Kong
King Kong is the 1933 film that introduced the giant ape on Skull Island.
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What food does Garfield famously love?
Lasagna
Lasagna is Garfield's best-known favorite food.
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What is the signature weapon of a Jedi in Star Wars?
Lightsaber
A lightsaber is a hilt that projects a blade of contained energy, focused by a kyber crystal that the Jedi traditionally finds and fits themselves. Blasters are the everyday ranged weapon of soldiers, smugglers and bounty hunters across the galaxy, and the electrostaff is carried by General Grievous's MagnaGuard droids.
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Which character was revealed as Luke Skywalker's father?
Darth Vader
Darth Vader reveals that he is Luke Skywalker's father in The Empire Strikes Back.
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Which television series was set in 1960s Manhattan advertising?
Mad Men
Mad Men follows an advertising agency in 1960s Manhattan.
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Which publisher publishes Spider-Man?
Marvel Comics
Spider-Man is one of Marvel Comics' best-known characters.
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When was the movie The Matrix released?
1999
The Matrix was released in 1999 and became a major influence on science-fiction action cinema. Its simulated-reality premise drew on philosophical ideas as well as cyberpunk fiction.
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Who created The Simpsons?
Matt Groening
Matt Groening created The Simpsons.
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Who holds the record for the most acting Oscar nominations?
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep has been nominated 21 times for acting, far ahead of Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson on 12 apiece. She has won three of them: Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie's Choice and The Iron Lady.
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Who played Michael Scott in the American version of The Office?
Steve Carell
Steve Carell played Michael Scott, the often well-meaning but painfully awkward regional manager of Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch. The performance earned him multiple major award nominations.
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What is the name of Thor's hammer?
Mjolnir
Mjolnir is the enchanted hammer wielded by Thor in Marvel's films.
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What kind of animal is Pikachu?
Mouse
Pikachu is officially classified as the Mouse Pokémon.
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Who played Neo in The Matrix?
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves played Neo, a programmer who discovers that his reality is a simulated world. The film popularized visual effects such as bullet time.
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What artifact does Sauron seek to reclaim?
One Ring
The One Ring is the artifact Sauron created and seeks to recover.
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What subtitle was later added to the 1977 film Star Wars?
A New Hope
The 1977 film was later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope. It was originally released simply as Star Wars, before the saga's chronology was expanded.
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Who directed The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring?
Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson directed The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
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What is Spider-Man's secret identity?
Peter Parker
Spider-Man is the superhero identity of Peter Parker.
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Which studio produced Toy Story?
Pixar
Toy Story was produced by Pixar Animation Studios.
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Which 1987 action film strands a special-forces team in the jungle with something they cannot see?
Predator
Predator introduced the technologically advanced hunter opposing a special-forces team.
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The Ghostbusters wear what on their backs to fire the stream that pins a ghost in place?
Proton pack
The proton pack is a wearable particle accelerator that fires a charged stream to wrestle a ghost still. It does not catch anything. The team then kicks a separate ghost trap under the held ghost and pulls it in, and the traps are emptied into the containment unit in the firehouse basement.
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Who directed the 1960 thriller Psycho?
Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock adapted Psycho from Robert Bloch's novel and used its famous shower sequence to reshape expectations about what a mainstream thriller could do. The film also helped popularize the psychological-horror genre.
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Who directed Pulp Fiction?
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino directed Pulp Fiction and co-wrote its sharply nonlinear screenplay with Roger Avary. The film won the Palme d'Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.
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What artifact is Indiana Jones seeking in Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Ark of the Covenant
Indiana Jones races to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark. In the film, the Ark is said to contain the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments.
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Which bird does Wile E. Coyote chase?
Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote repeatedly pursues the Road Runner.
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Which film stars Sylvester Stallone as a struggling Philadelphia boxer?
Rocky
Rocky stars Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, a struggling Philadelphia boxer who gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot at the world heavyweight title. Stallone also wrote the screenplay.
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In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, what footwear brings Dorothy home?
Ruby Slippers
Dorothy's ruby slippers carry her back to Kansas once she taps the heels together three times. In L. Frank Baum's original novel the shoes are silver; MGM changed them to red so they would blaze against the yellow brick road in Technicolor.
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Which actor first played Ian Fleming's James Bond in film?
Sean Connery
Sean Connery was the first actor to play Ian Fleming's James Bond in film and went on to play 007 in six EON films.
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Where is the sitcom Seinfeld mainly set?
New York City
Seinfeld is primarily set in New York City.
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Which TV series centers on the Shelby crime family in Birmingham?
Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders follows the Shelby family and their gang in post-World War I Birmingham. The series takes its name from the historical Birmingham gang, though its story is largely fictionalized.
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Which film won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature?
Shrek
Shrek won the inaugural Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2002.
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Which actor played Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs?
Anthony Hopkins
Hopkins won the Best Actor Oscar for the role despite appearing on screen for only a small portion of the film. His restrained performance made Lecter one of cinema's most memorable villains.
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In which animated film is Simba the young heir to the throne?
The Lion King
Simba is the central lion cub in Disney's The Lion King. The story follows his journey from exile to reclaiming his place as king of the Pride Lands.
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Which film stars Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood?
Singin' in the Rain
Gene Kelly played silent-film star Don Lockwood in Singin' in the Rain.
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In which U.S. state is The Sopranos primarily set?
New Jersey
The Sopranos is primarily set in New Jersey.
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What food gives Popeye his sudden strength?
Spinach
Popeye famously gains strength after eating spinach.
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What is the young heroine's name in Spirited Away?
Chihiro
Chihiro is the young heroine of Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away.
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Who directed the animated film Spirited Away?
Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki directed Spirited Away for Studio Ghibli. The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, becoming the first traditionally animated film to win that prize.
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Who directed The Shining?
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick directed the 1980 horror film The Shining.
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Captain Kirk is a central character in which TV franchise?
Star Trek
Captain James T. Kirk is a central character in Star Trek.
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Who composed the original Star Wars film score?
John Williams
John Williams composed the original Star Wars score, including its famous opening fanfare and main theme. The music helped give the space opera a grand, classical sound.
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Which civilian name belongs to Captain America?
Steve Rogers
The character first appeared in 1941, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby as a scrawny Brooklyn volunteer turned into a peak-condition soldier by an experimental serum. Chris Evans played him across the Marvel Cinematic Universe films starting in 2011.
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Which Japanese animation company made My Neighbor Totoro?
Studio Ghibli
Founded in 1985 by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata with producer Toshio Suzuki, the studio released this film in 1988. Totoro itself later became the studio's mascot, appearing in its logo before every release.
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What is the surname of the family at the center of Succession?
Roy
The Roy family controls the Waystar Royco media conglomerate in Succession. The drama focuses on the siblings' struggle to succeed their father, Logan Roy.
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What fictional city is Superman associated with?
Metropolis
Superman is traditionally associated with the fictional city of Metropolis.
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What newspaper employs Clark Kent in Superman stories?
Daily Planet
Clark Kent works as a reporter for the Daily Planet in Metropolis. The newspaper is overseen by editor-in-chief Perry White, with Jimmy Olsen working there as a photographer.
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Hollywood's switch to sound began with The Jazz Singer in 1927. By which year had the major studios stopped making silent features altogether?
1931
Points West, a Hoot Gibson western released by Universal in August 1929, is often cited as the majors' last silent feature. Rewiring theaters and soundstages for the new technology took a few more years to finish nationwide.
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Who played T'Challa in Black Panther?
Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick Boseman played T'Challa, the king and protector of Wakanda, in Black Panther. He first appeared as the character in Captain America: Civil War.
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Which actor played the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who?
David Tennant
Tennant portrayed the Tenth Doctor from 2005 to 2010. The character's regenerations allow different actors to play the same Time Lord while preserving the show's continuity.
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Which sitcom features Sheldon Cooper's catchphrase "Bazinga!"?
The Big Bang Theory
Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim Parsons, says "Bazinga!" after landing a prank or a joke in The Big Bang Theory, which ran for twelve seasons from 2007.
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Which film features the line "Why so serious?"
The Dark Knight
The Joker repeatedly uses this line in The Dark Knight.
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Which sitcom is Homer's catchphrase "D'oh!" from?
The Simpsons
Voice actor Dan Castellaneta originally improvised the sound after scripts simply read the stage direction Annoyed Grunt. The word entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2001, defined as an exclamation of frustration.
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Which film features "I see dead people"?
The Sixth Sense
Cole reveals this supernatural ability in The Sixth Sense.
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The line “I'll be back” comes from which film?
The Terminator
Arnold Schwarzenegger says “I'll be back” in The Terminator.
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Who played Truman Burbank in The Truman Show?
Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey played Truman Burbank in The Truman Show.
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In which U.S. city is the TV series The Wire primarily set?
Baltimore
The Wire is primarily set in Baltimore, Maryland, and examines institutions including the police department, schools, docks, and local government. Many locations and characters draw on the real city.
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Which film features "There's no place like home"?
The Wizard of Oz
Dorothy repeats this line at the end of The Wizard of Oz.
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Which film includes "I'm the king of the world!"
Titanic
Jack shouts this line at the bow of the ship in Titanic.
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What is Iron Man's civilian name?
Tony Stark
Iron Man is the armored identity of Tony Stark.
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Toothless and Hiccup first appear together in which fantasy film?
How to Train Your Dragon
DreamWorks released How to Train Your Dragon in 2010, adapting Cressida Cowell's children's books. Hiccup is a Viking boy who shoots down and then befriends an injured dragon he names Toothless, a rare species called a Night Fury.
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Which film includes "To infinity and beyond!"
Toy Story
Buzz Lightyear's signature line comes from Toy Story.
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In which film does the narrator meet the character Tyler Durden?
Fight Club
Tyler Durden is a central character in Fight Club, David Fincher's 1999 adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel. The film explores alienation, consumerism, and fractured identity.
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In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what material forms Captain America's iconic shield?
Vibranium
In the MCU, Captain America's shield is made of vibranium.
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Which studio is Daffy Duck from?
Warner Bros.
Daffy Duck is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes character.
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Who plays Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series Wednesday?
Jenna Ortega
Jenna Ortega plays Wednesday Addams in the series Wednesday. Her performance's deadpan style became a defining part of the show's tone.
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Who played Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz?
Judy Garland
Garland played Dorothy in the 1939 musical fantasy and introduced the song 'Over the Rainbow.' The role became the signature performance of her early film career.
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In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, what color are Dorothy's slippers?
Ruby
Dorothy wears ruby slippers in the 1939 film, whose bright color stood out in Technicolor. In L. Frank Baum's original novel, the shoes are silver instead.
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Who provides the voice of Woody in the Toy Story films?
Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks voices Woody, the pull-string cowboy who leads the Toy Story toys. Tim Allen voices Buzz Lightyear, Woody's friend and occasional rival.
Medium Film and TV Trivia Questions
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When was the inaugural Academy Awards ceremony held?
1929
The inaugural Oscars took place on May 16, 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
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Who provided the voice and motion-capture performance for Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy?
Andy Serkis
Andy Serkis played Gollum on set and in the capture studio and voiced him, a performance that pushed motion capture into mainstream filmmaking.
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Which actress played the title role in the 1954 film Sabrina?
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn played the chauffeur's daughter Sabrina Fairchild in Billy Wilder's 1954 film, opposite Humphrey Bogart and William Holden.
-
Who directed the film Casablanca?
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz directed Casablanca.
-
Which sitcom was a spin-off from Cheers?
Frasier
Frasier Crane, the psychiatrist propping up the end of the Cheers bar, moved home to Seattle for the 1993 spin-off Frasier, which ran for eleven seasons and won a shelf of Emmys.
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Which actor played Queen Elizabeth II in the first two seasons of The Crown?
Claire Foy
Claire Foy played the young Elizabeth II in seasons one and two; Olivia Colman then took the role for seasons three and four.
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In what year did Coronation Street premiere?
1960
Coronation Street debuted in December 1960 and became a defining institution of British television.
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In which comic book series did Superman first appear?
Action Comics
Superman debuted in Action Comics #1, cover-dated June 1938, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series is still running and passed its 1,000th issue in 2018.
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In which decade did Donald Duck make his screen debut?
The 1930s
Donald Duck first waddled on screen in the Disney short The Wise Little Hen in June 1934, six years after Mickey Mouse. The short temper and the sailor suit were there from the start, and so was the strangled voice, supplied by Clarence Nash for nearly fifty years.
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In what year did EastEnders premiere on the BBC?
1985
EastEnders debuted in 1985 and became one of Britain's major soap operas.
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What is the fictional borough where the BBC soap EastEnders is set?
Walford
EastEnders is set in Walford, a fictional borough in East London.
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Which animated film was the first ever nominated for the Best Picture Oscar?
Beauty and the Beast
Disney's Beauty and the Beast, released in 1991, took a Best Picture nomination and lost to The Silence of the Lambs. No animated feature managed another nomination until Up, eighteen years later.
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Which film won Outstanding Picture, the award later renamed Best Picture, at the first Academy Awards?
Wings
Released in 1927, this silent World War I drama about American fighter pilots was directed by William Wellman and remains the only fully silent film to have won the award.
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When did The Jazz Singer premiere?
1927
The Jazz Singer premiered in 1927 and became a landmark of the transition from silent films to talkies.
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Which film has taken the most at the worldwide box office, not adjusted for inflation?
Avatar
James Cameron's 2009 release briefly lost the top spot to Avengers: Endgame in 2019, then reclaimed it in March 2021 after a rerelease in China pushed its worldwide total past 2.8 billion dollars. Adjusted for inflation, several much older films still rank above it.
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Which series featured the character Carrie Mathison?
Homeland
Carrie Mathison, the bipolar CIA officer played by Claire Danes, anchored all eight seasons of Homeland between 2011 and 2020. The role won Danes two Emmy Awards for lead actress in a drama series.
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Who played Tony Soprano?
James Gandolfini
James Gandolfini portrayed Tony Soprano in The Sopranos.
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Who played Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers?
John Cleese
John Cleese played the hotel owner Basil Fawlty.
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On which fictional island is the original Jurassic Park located?
Isla Nublar
The original Jurassic Park is located on Isla Nublar, a fictional island near Costa Rica. Isla Sorna is the separate island used as the dinosaur-rearing site in later stories.
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Which actor won a record four Best Actress Oscars?
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn won Best Actress four times, for Morning Glory, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Lion in Winter and On Golden Pond. No other performer has won four in a single acting category.
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Which film won Best Picture at the 1980 Academy Awards?
Kramer vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer won Best Picture at the 1980 Academy Awards.
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Who played Nurse Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest?
Louise Fletcher
Louise Fletcher portrayed Nurse Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.
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Who played Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando brought Stanley Kowalski from Broadway to the 1951 film, and was the only one of its four leads not to win an Oscar for it.
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Who played the Ninth Doctor in the 2005 revival of Doctor Who?
Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston played the Ninth Doctor when Doctor Who returned to television in 2005. He was followed in the lead role by David Tennant.
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Which film was the first non-English-language Best Picture winner?
Parasite
Parasite was the first primarily non-English-language film to win Best Picture.
-
Who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation?
Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart portrayed Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the series.
-
Which film introduced the character of Norman Bates?
Psycho
Norman Bates reached the screen in Hitchcock's 1960 Psycho, adapted from Robert Bloch's novel of the year before.
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Which film won Best Picture at the 1994 Academy Awards?
Schindler's List
Schindler's List won the 1994 Academy Award for Best Picture.
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Who directed The Good, the Bad and the Ugly?
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone directed The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
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What is the name of the hotel where Jack Torrance takes a winter caretaking job in The Shining?
Overlook Hotel
Jack Torrance works as the winter caretaker of the isolated Overlook Hotel. The hotel’s isolation and supernatural history play a central role in the film.
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In what year did Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiere?
1937
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered in 1937 as Disney's first full-length animated feature.
-
Which film features the character Travis Bickle?
Taxi Driver
Robert De Niro played Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.
-
Which film became the first sequel to win Best Picture?
The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II became the first sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
-
Which film was the first directed by a woman to win Best Picture?
The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker was the first film directed by a woman to win Best Picture.
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Which film won every Oscar for which it was nominated, with 11 wins?
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997) also collected 11 Academy Awards each, but this film, honored at the 2004 ceremony, is the only one of the three to have won every category it was nominated for. It closed out Peter Jackson's trilogy, shot back-to-back with the other two films in New Zealand.
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Which film trilogy has won the most Academy Awards in total?
The Lord of the Rings
Peter Jackson's three films won 17 Oscars between them, eleven of those going to The Return of the King in 2004. No other trilogy comes close: the Godfather films took nine.
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Which television Western formerly held the U.S. scripted-primetime longevity record surpassed by The Simpsons?
Gunsmoke
The Simpsons surpassed Gunsmoke's run in 2018 to become the longest-running U.S. scripted primetime television series.
-
Which film won the Best Picture Oscar at the 1998 Academy Awards?
Titanic
James Cameron's Titanic took 11 Academy Awards that night, including Best Picture and Best Director, matching the record set by Ben-Hur. It was also the first film to pass a billion dollars at the worldwide box office.
-
In what year was the Pixar film Toy Story released?
1995
Toy Story opened in November 1995. It was Pixar's first feature and the first feature-length film animated entirely with computer graphics.
-
In what U.S. state is the fictional town of Twin Peaks located?
Washington
Twin Peaks is a fictional town in Washington state, near the Canadian border. The Pacific Northwest setting is central to the series' wooded, mysterious atmosphere.
-
Which director made the 1973 film The Exorcist?
William Friedkin
William Friedkin made The Exorcist two years after The French Connection, which had won him the Best Director Oscar.
Hard Film and TV Trivia Questions
-
Who directed Seven Samurai?
Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa directed the Japanese film Seven Samurai.
-
What is the name of the commercial spaceship in Alien?
Nostromo
The Nostromo is the commercial towing vessel carrying the crew in Alien. Its cramped industrial design helped define the film's atmosphere of isolation and dread.
-
Which film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing?
All About Eve
Bette Davis played aging stage star Margo Channing in All About Eve.
-
Which actor played the title character in the 1964 film Zorba the Greek?
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn played Alexis Zorba in Michael Cacoyannis's 1964 adaptation of the Nikos Kazantzakis novel.
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For which film did Ken Adam first win an Academy Award?
Barry Lyndon
Adam is best remembered for the Dr. Strangelove war room and the Bond films, but his first Oscar came for Barry Lyndon (1975); he won a second for The Madness of King George.
-
Which film was the first to win 11 Academy Awards?
Ben-Hur
Ben-Hur was the first film to win 11 Academy Awards, a record later matched by two films.
-
Who composed the score for Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo?
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann wrote the swirling score for Vertigo (1958), one of several Hitchcock films he scored alongside North by Northwest and Psycho.
-
Which film won eight Oscars without taking Best Picture?
Cabaret
Cabaret won eight Academy Awards but lost Best Picture to The Godfather.
-
Who played Mexican police officer Miguel Vargas in Touch of Evil?
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston played Vargas opposite Orson Welles, who directed the film and played the corrupt detective Hank Quinlan.
-
Who provided the voice of HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey?
Douglas Rain
Canadian actor Douglas Rain recorded HAL's unnervingly calm voice after Kubrick set aside an earlier recording by Martin Balsam.
-
Which film is generally recognized as the world's first feature-length narrative film?
The Story of the Kelly Gang
The Story of the Kelly Gang ran about an hour when it premiered in Melbourne in December 1906, dramatizing the career of bushranger Ned Kelly. Narrative films before it were single-reel shorts of roughly a quarter of an hour.
-
Who directed the 1968 science-fiction film Planet of the Apes?
Franklin J. Schaffner
Franklin J. Schaffner directed the 1968 original; two years later he made Patton, which won him the Best Director Oscar.
-
In what year did General Hospital premiere on American television?
1963
General Hospital premiered in 1963 and became one of American daytime television's longest-running dramas.
-
Which film held the all-time box-office record from 1939 to 1966?
Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind held the all-time box-office record until The Sound of Music surpassed it in 1966.
-
Which film won Best Picture as its sole Oscar nomination?
Grand Hotel
Grand Hotel received only one Oscar nomination and won Best Picture.
-
Which actor portrayed Perry White in the 1978 film Superman?
Jackie Cooper
Jackie Cooper, a child star of the 1930s, played Daily Planet editor Perry White; Beatty, Hackman and Ford played Otis, Lex Luthor and Jonathan Kent.
-
What is Wolverine's birth name?
James Howlett
Wolverine was born James Howlett before adopting the name Logan.
-
Which film won the first competitive Best Foreign Language Film Oscar?
La Strada
La Strada won the first competitive Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1957.
-
What is the name of the spacecraft in the television series Firefly?
Serenity
The crew fly a Firefly-class transport named Serenity, which also gave the 2005 follow-up film its title.
-
What is the name of the newspaper Charles Foster Kane runs in Citizen Kane?
The New York Inquirer
Kane takes over the struggling New York Inquirer and prints his Declaration of Principles on its front page.
-
Which film became the third to win all five major Oscars?
The Silence of the Lambs
The Silence of the Lambs became the third film to win Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay.
-
Which film was Steven Spielberg's first feature made for cinema release?
The Sugarland Express
The Sugarland Express (1974) was Spielberg's first cinema feature; Duel was made for American television in 1971 and only later given an overseas theatrical run.
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What visual effect can temporal aliasing create in footage of a rotating wheel?
Apparent backward motion
Temporal aliasing can make a rotating wheel appear to move backward when the camera’s frame rate samples its rotation at misleading intervals. This is commonly known as the wagon-wheel effect.
Answered in full
These come up often enough that each one has its own page.
- Which fictional city does Batman protect?
- Which Hogwarts house is Harry Potter sorted into?
- Who played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films?
- Who played Jack Dawson in Titanic?
- Who directed the 1975 film Jaws?
- Who played Neo in The Matrix?
- Who directed the 1960 thriller Psycho?
- Who directed the animated film Spirited Away?
- Who played T'Challa in Black Panther?
For younger players
The easiest of these are collected on their own page: Film and TV trivia questions for kids.
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