Monday, September 15, 2008

A Film Babble Blog Pop Quiz Reprise

To celebrate this being my 200th post (which I know in the bloggosphere is no biggie - my prolific pals at The Playlist have had 1471 posts this year alone!) I decided to re-post a quiz from my 80th post (May 6th, 2007) that didnt get a very satisfactory response first time out. Ive had a lot more hits since then and Ive added a new EXTRA EXTRA CREDIT question so I hope film freak folks will roll up their sleeves, get their #2 pencils, and tackle: Film Babble Blog's Movie & TV Mind Teasers! The major unanswered questions in the realm of modern pop-culture in a quick n easy pop-quiz format. 1. What was in the briefcase in PULP FICTION? 2. What was in the package that Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) leaves in the care of Barton (John Turturro) in BARTON FINK? 3. What state is Springfield in on The Simpsons? 4. Why (or how) is Chance the Gardener (Peter Sellers) able to walk on water at the end of BEING THERE? 5. How (or why) did Groundhog Day keep repeating to Phil Connors (Bill Murray) in GROUNDHOG DAY? 6. What is the one thing that 13 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING is about? 7. Did Mookie (Spike Lee) do the right thing in DO THE RIGHT THING? 8. When the Fonz (Henry Winkler) moved in over the Cunningham's garage on Happy Days - did he actually pay rent? 9. How on bloody Earth did those images get on that damn videotape in any version of THE RING? 10. Who killed chauffeur Owen Taylor (Dan Wallace) in THE BIG SLEEP? (Man, if you can answer this...) EXTRA CREDIT : Who put the monolith on earth during the opening apes BC segment and on the moon in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY? God or Aliens? Discuss. EXTRA EXTRA CREDIT:

What does Bill Murray whisper in Scarlett Johansson' s ear at the end of LOST IN TRANSLATION?

Okay film folks! Dont let me down - take the quiz and send your answers to me as comments below or to my email: boopbloop7@gmail.com More later...

7 comments:

sophomorecritic said...

in terms of the state springfield is in, who killed the chaffuer and what scarlett johannson whispered into bill murray's ear (or vice versa), they're all things that were never known, by even the authors of the sources and were never meant to be known by the audience so i could assume that the answers i don't know like being there and pulp fiction might follow suit

Graham said...

I only know the answer to one of these: surely that was her head in that package, right? Shout out to Rear Window, I'm thinking.

Also, what was in the package in Ronin?

Anonymous said...

#1 Theory: The briefcase retrieved by Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield in the film Pulp Fiction contained the soul of their boss, Marsellus Wallace.

Tarantino: Has admitted there is no ‘official’ explanation behind the briefcases contents, and that it was simply written into the screen play as an intriguing McGuffin.

Co-author Roger Avery: Originally the briefcase contained diamonds. But that seemed predictable so it was decided the contents would never be seen so that each viewer would come to their own conclusions. Then somebody had the bright idea to put an orange light bulb in there and what could have been anything became supernatural.

#2 The head of Audrey Taylor or Barton’s muse. (although the smart ass owner of this blog says that I am wrong - but he's just full of himself)

#3 “The uncertain location of Springfield is a recurring joke in the series. Springfield is meant to represent "anytown, USA" and not be a specific real city. The name was chosen because it is a common town name in the United States. Despite this, many fans still believe that Springfield is located in a real state and try to follow the clues.
In the episode "Blame It on Lisa", when asked about Springfield's location, Lisa replies, "it's a bit of a mystery, yes. But if you look at the clues, you can figure it out." David Silverman, a director for the Simpsons, has claimed that Springfield is in the fictional state of "North Takoma". However, this has never been officially confirmed in any canonical episode of The Simpsons or by other Simpsons producers. Homer's driver license displays the state as NT and the ZIP code as 49007, which is Kalamazoo, Michigan., although the area codes for Springfield have also been stated as 636 (East-Central Missouri) and 939 (Puerto Rico).
In The Simpsons Movie, Ned Flanders identifies the four bordering states as Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky, most of which are vastly separated from each other.

#4 Because his life is a state of mind.

#5 So that Phil Connors could learn from his mistakes and try again.

#6 What is happiness, and how does one achieve it?

#7 One of many questions at the end of the film is whether Mookie 'does the right thing' when he throws the garbage can through the window, thus inciting the riot that destroys Sal's pizzeria. The question is directly raised by the contradictory quotations that end the film, one advocating non-violence, the other advocating violent self-defense in response to oppression. Spike Lee himself, however, has stated that only white viewers ask this question. Lee believes the key point is that Mookie was angry at the death of Radio Raheem, and that viewers who question the riot's justification are implicitly valuing white property over the life of a black man.

#8 In episode #40, Fonzie Moves In (9/9/75) Fonzie pays 3 months rent in advance.

#9 When the teens tried to record the football game, they accidentally recorded a broadcast or a show that had those freaky images on it. (this is how the tape is made in Ringu ) (or the game didn’t record because the images were already there and wouldn’t be recorded over).

#10 One theory: Joe Brody followed the fleeing Taylor from the Geiger house, blackjacked him to death and then ran Taylor and his car off the pier.

A second, less likely alternative: Brody blackjacked and knocked out Taylor and then took the roll of film. When Taylor regained consciousness, he discovered that the incriminating film of nude Carmen was stolen. Distraught, he tied down his car's own throttle and committed suicide.

EXTRA CREDIT: In Arthur Clarke's novel, the mysterious monolithic stone slab is a technological machine belonging to aliens in space, one of hundreds of such monoliths sent to Earth to test, teach and transform the apes into higher-order, intelligent beings. On the other hand, Kubrick uses LOTS of religious imagery that was not in the original novel. (Ape touching monolith, forbidden fruit…man touching gods hand a la Michelangelo).

EXTRA EXTRA CREDIT: Sofia Coppola gave interviews saying that nothing was officially scripted, and that only Johansson and Murray know what was really said.
But, with some digital enhancement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MV7Sym8bIQ

“I have to be leaving. But I won’t let that come between us, OK?”


My work here is done.

Liantener said...

In the Ring, some flashbacks suggested that Samara was born with psychic capabilites (known as "projected thermography", or "nensha" in the Japanese original), and so was able to imprint images onto specific media - like the "x-ray"-type images shown in the film. The video will be an extension of that capability.

ratatouille's archives said...

Hi! Daniel,
Being the darkcitydame, I had to take a "shot" at question no#10
According to Wiki...
... about the film the "The Big Sleep"
One of the murders is "left unexplained."(As a matter of fact, I think that was a "running" joke on the set of the "The Big Sleep"... They (The cast members) would repeatedly ask Director Howard Hawks, Who Killed Owen?)

Owen Taylor ( The Sternwood's chauffeur...) is found murdered in a car that has been pushed into the bay.According to the Wiki article even author [Raymond] Chandler was shocked to find out later that he didn't know who the killer was...Wow!

A little bit of "The Big Sleep" trivia...from Wiki...Did you know?
"The Coen brothers' film The Big Lebowski is loosely based on The Big Sleep."(Great trivia!... to know, because as you know I am watching the Coens' films in reverse!)

Anonymous said...

Because I'm inherently lazy, I'll just agree with blue-velvet-ant's answers! :)

Fletch said...

Oh, but what was in the box in Se7en?

Wait, nevermind - we know the answer to that one...