It’s time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for: The Great Train Wreck Quizery! Below is a list of 50 films, half featuring train wrecks and half that are train wrecks. Your job is to identify which are which. Here’s how the scoring works:
Rules:
Correct answers are worth 1 pt.
Incorrect answers lose you 0.5 pts. (It may be worthwhile to skip ones you don’t know rather than guessing). On tricky or questionable cases I may waive the deduction.
Pay attention to the order the films are listed in. Many films will share something in common with one or more of the films around it (e.g. the Spiderman films). Each group that you identify is worth a half point! You must give all the titles (with no extras) and explain what they have in common. Just having similar titles doesn’t count (those are just for fun!). Wrong answers will not get deductions.
Tie-breakers will go to the earlier submission.
Send your answers to filmwalrus@gmail.com. It suffices to simply copy-paste the list into an email and put a 1 in front of titles you think have wrecks and a 0 in front of titles that are wrecks (leaving non-guesses blank).
The winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift certificate. Katie and I will be the only judges.
[Updated 10/17/08] The quiz has now officially ended. Thank you, everyone who particpated!
Winner: 37 pts.
Here are some clues:
1) For a movie to count as having a train wreck a train must crash, derail or explode. The train may not necessarily be destroyed (i.e. it could wreck into something and keep on going).
2) For the purpose of this quiz, no film can count as both or neither. If a film has a train wreck it goes under the “has a” category even if it is also a raging mess. If a film does not have a train wreck, it goes under the “is a” heading even if you disagree about my disparaging assessment (besides, many of these films I actually like).
3) I’ve intentionally laid some traps so be on your toes.
The List:
Mystery Train (1989)
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Ballad of a Soldier (1959)
The Train (1964)
The Apple (1980)
The General (1927)
Spies (1928)
The Wheel (1923)
Arsenal (1928)
The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
Six Days Seven Nights (1998)
The Fugitive (1993)
The Avengers (1998)
Zardoz (1974)
Boarding Gate (2007)
Heaven’s Gate (1980)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Tideland (2005)
Jubilee (1977)
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Camp Nowhere (1994)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985)
Steamboy (2004)
Polar Express (2004)
Horror Express (1973)
Final Destination (2000)
GoldenEye (1995)
Octopussy (1983)
Casino Royale (1967)
Antz (1998)
The French Connection (1971)
Quintet (1979)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
The Newton Boys (1998)
Destry Rides Again (1939)
Closely Watched Trains (1966)
The Namesake (2006)
Zentropa (1991)
Lady in the Water (2006)
Unbreakable (2000)
Hudson Hawk (1991)
Batman & Robin (1997)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Danger Diabolik (1968)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Bridge On the River Kwai (1957)
Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
Crash (1996)
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5 comments:
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh god, this is both clever and intimidating.
I probably made it too hard, but that should prevent a glut of perfect scores.
Right now the score to beat is 0, so that shouldn't be too hard. Multiple submissions are welcome, with the last one received used for the record.
Alright, the first leader score is up: 11.5. It edged out the competition by half a point.
I won't be putting up the leader's names to prevent anyone using multiple submission to mastermind (remember that game?) the answers. It also creates some pleasant artificial tension.
Anyway, there's plenty of room for improvement on that leader mark so keep at it!
The previous comment was deleted for containing an answer. Here is the content with the director and title bleeped out:
What about the greatest train wreck in cinema? *****'s "*****" , actually the most expensive shot in silent film.
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