Vintage Geek's Ultimate Xmas Movie Quiz!
Baffle the family with an onslaught of seasonally-themed questions.
FIRST, THE QUESTIONS:
ROUND 1: Gremlins (1984)
Q1. How much did Billy's father pay for Gizmo?
Q2. The scourge of Mrs Deagle's imported Bavarian snowman, what is the name of Billy's dog?
Q3. True or False: The set for Kingston Falls is the same one used for Back to the Future.
Q4. What - or rather, who - Â links Gremlins to the Harry Potter movies?
Q5. What sort of vehicle does Mr Futterman (Dick Miller) drive?
Q6. The word Mogwai is Cantonese for...
A. Mischief
B. Terror
C. Demon
D. Furry
Q7. What classic Disney film briefly calms the rampaging critters when they gate-crash the local movie theatre?
Q8. What causes the mogwai to transform from cute creatures to terrifying monsters?
Q9. Where did nine year-old Kate find her dead dad, and how was he dressed?
Q10. What is the name of the Rand Peltzer invention that includes a pop up razor and squirting shaving foam?
BONUS ROUND: Love, Actually (2003)
Q1. What song does Prime Minister Hugh Grant dance to in Number 10, when he thinks he's all alone?
Q2. What song, by the Bay City Rollers, is played at Daniel's (Liam Neeson) wife's funeral?
Q3. What classic Christmas song does Joanna (Olivia Olsen), the object of Sam's (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) affections, sing at the school concert?
ROUND 2: Pot Luck, Part One
Q1. Written by Jewish-American songwriter Irving Berlin in 1942, White Christmas proved there could be a commercially successful secular Christmas song. In fact, it remains the best-selling song of all time, with Bing Crosby's various versions selling more than 50 million copies, and cover versions easily doubling that number. Of course, it was featured prominently in the hit 1954 musical White Christmas, but in which 1942 musical, also starring Crosby, did the song make its big screen debut?
Q2. According to little Zuzu Bailey, in Frank Capra's timeless Christmas classic, It's a Wonderful Life (1946), what happens every time a bell rings?
Q3. True or False: 1947's Miracle on 34th Street, one of the most beloved Christmas films of all time, was originally released in US cinemas in June.Â
Q4. What movie features the charged lines:
"Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it?"
"Mmm, but a kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it."
Q5. In 1989's Christmas Vacation, surely the best of all the Vacation movies, what was Clark Griswold planning to buy with his Christmas bonus?
Q6. John Landis's Christmas-set comedy Trading Places, from 1983, revolves around a mean spirited bet between two rich old guys who force a stockbroker and a homeless man to trade lives. How much was the wager for?
Q7. The 2017 movie The Man Who Invented Christmas stars Dan Stevens as which author?
Q8. In 1992's The Muppet Christmas Carol, what does Rizzo the Rat say his mother taught him never to eat?
Q9. By what name is Santa (Ed Ivory) known in Halloweentown, in 1993's The Nightmare Before Christmas?
Q10. How old is Kevin McCallister, as played by Macaulay Culkin, in 1990's hilarious tale of child abandonment and endangerment, Home Alone?
BONUS ROUND: Home Alone (1990)
Q1. What's the name of Kevin's obnoxious big brother?
A. Bill
B. Bart
C. Buzz
Q2. At what point does Kevin's mum realise he's not with the rest of the family?
A. In the taxi on the way to the airport?
B. During the flight to Paris?
C. A week into their trip?
Q3. What is the name of the gangster film Kevin watches?
A. The Godfather
B. Goodfellas
C. Angels With Filthy Souls
ROUND 3: Pot Luck, Part 2
Q1. Swapping homes, and countries, for Christmas, and hooray, finding love, which two actresses play Amanda and Iris in writer/director Nancy Meyers The Holiday, from 2006?
Q2. What's the title of the schlocky 1984 slasher movie in which a disturbed teenage boy, dressed as Santa, goes on a mad, gory killing spree, shooting, stabbing and axing his way around town, not to mention that one time when he hangs a guy with a string of Christmas lights and of course the bit where he impales a half-naked girl on the antlers of a mounted deer bust?
Q3. How does Santa die while visiting the Calvin home in 1994's The Santa Clause?
Q4. What's the name of the most coveted toy of the holiday season, the action figure Arnold Schwarzenegger fights so hard to obtain, in 1996's Jingle All the Way?
Q5. What does the weird kid, Thurman Merman, give Billy Bob Thornton's Bad Santa (2003) for Christmas?
Q6. What's the name of the Grinch's scene-stealing dog in Ron Howard’s 2000 take on How the Grinch Stole Christmas?
Q7. In Scrooged (1988), when the prop man admits he can't figure out how to attach antlers to a mouse, what does Bill Murray's harsh-as-Hell TV executive suggest he use?Â
Q8. What, according to Will Ferrell's Buddy in 2003's Elf, is the fourth food group after candy, candy canes and candy corns?
Q9. As played by Bill Nighy in Xmas essential Love, Actually (2003), what's the name of Billy Mack's shamelessly derivative #1 festive single?
Q10. Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the... What is so delightful?
BONUS ROUND: Die Hard (1988)
Q1. What's better than a shower and a hot cup of coffee after a tiring flight?
Q2. What's the name of the office building featured in the movie?
Q3. When you steal $600, you can just disappear. When you steal $600 million, they will find you, unless they think... What?
AND NOW, THE ANSWERS:
ROUND 1: Gremlins (1984)
Q1. How much did Billy's father pay for Gizmo?
A1. $200
Q2. The scourge of Mrs Deagle's imported Bavarian snowman, what is the name of Billy's dog?
A2. Barney
- The dog's real name was Mushroom, who also played Lance Henriksen's dog Gypsy in the cult horror movie Pumpkinhead (1988).
Q3. True or False: The set for Kingston Falls is the same one used for Back to the Future.
A3. True
- Both movies were filmed on the Universal Studios backlot.
Q4. What - or rather, who - Â links Gremlins to the Harry Potter movies?
A4. Chris Columbus, who wrote Gremlins and directed the first two Harry Potter movies, 2001's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and 2002's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Q5. What sort of vehicle does Mr Futterman (Dick Miller) drive?
A5. Snowplow
Q6. The word Mogwai is Cantonese for...
A. Mischief
B. Terror
C. Demon
D. Furry
A6. C. Demon.
Q7. What classic Disney film briefly calms the rampaging critters when they gate-crash the local movie theatre?
A7. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney's first animated feature, from 1937. And they love it!
Q8. What causes the mogwai to transform from cute creatures to terrifying monsters?
A8. Eating food after midnight.
Q9. Where did nine year-old Kate find her dead dad, and how was he dressed?
A9. In the chimney, and he was dressed as Santa!
Q10. What is the name of the Rand Peltzer invention that includes a pop up razor and squirting shaving foam?
A10. The bathroom buddy.
BONUS ROUND: Love, Actually (2003)
Q1. What song does Prime Minister Hugh Grant dance to in Number 10, when he thinks he's all alone?
A1. Jump (For My Love), by the Pointer Sisters, a number 6 hit released in 1984.
Q2. What song, by the Bay City Rollers, is played at Daniel's (Liam Neeson) wife's funeral?
A2. 1975 number 1 hit, Bye Bye Baby.
Q3. What classic Christmas song does Joanna (Olivia Olsen), the object of Sam's (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) affections, sing at the school concert?
A3. All I Want For Christmas is You
ROUND 2: Pot Luck, Part One
Q1. Written by Jewish-American songwriter Irving Berlin in 1942, White Christmas proved there could be a commercially successful secular Christmas song. In fact, it remains the best-selling song of all time, with Bing Crosby's various versions selling more than 50 million copies, and cover versions easily doubling that number. Of course, it was featured prominently in the hit 1954 musical White Christmas, but in which 1942 musical, also starring Crosby, did the song make its big screen debut?
A1. Holiday Inn
Q2. According to little Zuzu Bailey, in Frank Capra's timeless Christmas classic, It's a Wonderful Life (1946), what happens every time a bell rings?
A2. "Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings."
Q3. True or False: 1947's Miracle on 34th Street, one of the most beloved Christmas films of all time, was originally released in US cinemas in June.Â
A3. True! June 11, to be precise, when it was still baking ho-ho-hot.
Q4. What movie features the charged lines:
"Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it?"
"Mmm, but a kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it."
A4. It was a saucy encounter between Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman and Michael Keaton's Batman in 1992's Batman Returns, from director Tim Burton.
Q5. In 1989's Christmas Vacation, surely the best of all the Vacation movies, what was Clark Griswold planning to buy with his Christmas bonus?
A5. A swimming pool. Instead he gets a one-year membership in the 'Jelly of the Month Club'.
Q6. John Landis's Christmas-set comedy Trading Places, from 1983, revolves around a mean spirited bet between two rich old guys who force a stockbroker and a homeless man to trade lives. How much was the wager for?
A6. $1
Q7. The 2017 movie The Man Who Invented Christmas stars Dan Stevens as which author?
A7. Charles Dickens
- The movie dramatizes Dickens' creation of A Christmas Carol.
Q8. In 1992's The Muppet Christmas Carol, what does Rizzo the Rat say his mother taught him never to eat?
A8. Singing food
Q9. By what name is Santa (Ed Ivory) known in Halloweentown, in 1993's The Nightmare Before Christmas?
A9. Sandy Claws
Q10. How old is Kevin McCallister, as played by Macaulay Culkin, in 1990's hilarious tale of child abandonment and endangerment, Home Alone?
A10. Eight
BONUS ROUND: Home Alone (1990)
Q1. What's the name of Kevin's obnoxious big brother?
A. Bill
B. Bart
C. Buzz
A1. C. Buzz
- Played by actor Devin Ratray
Q2. At what point does Kevin's mum realise he's not with the rest of the family?
A. In the taxi on the way to the airport?
B. During the flight to Paris?
C. A week into their trip?
A2. B. During the flight.
Q3. What is the name of the gangster film Kevin watches?
A. The Godfather
B. Goodfellas
C. Angels With Filthy Souls
A3. C. Angels With Filthy Souls
- It was of course followed by an equally fictitious sequel, Angels with Even Filthier Souls, in 1992's Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
ROUND 3: Pot Luck, Part 2
Q1. Swapping homes, and countries, for Christmas, and hooray, finding love, which two actresses play Amanda and Iris in writer/director Nancy Meyers The Holiday, from 2006?
A1. Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet
Q2. What's the title of the schlocky 1984 slasher movie in which a disturbed teenage boy, dressed as Santa, goes on a mad, gory killing spree, shooting, stabbing and axing his way around town, not to mention that one time when he hangs a guy with a string of Christmas lights and of course the bit where he impales a half-naked girl on the antlers of a mounted deer bust?
A2. Silent Night, Deadly Night
Q3. How does Santa die while visiting the Calvin home in 1994's The Santa Clause?
A3. He falls off the roof.
Q4. What's the name of the most coveted toy of the holiday season, the action figure Arnold Schwarzenegger fights so hard to obtain, in 1996's Jingle All the Way?
A4. Turbo Man
Q5. What does the weird kid, Thurman Merman, give Billy Bob Thornton's Bad Santa (2003) for Christmas?
A5. A freshly carved wooden pickle (give yourself a pat on the back if you added that it was covered in Thurman's drying blood).
Q6. What's the name of the Grinch's scene-stealing dog in Ron Howard’s 2000 take on How the Grinch Stole Christmas?
A6. Max! He was actually played by six different mixed-breed shelter rescue dogs: Kelly, Chip, Topsy, Stella, Zelda and Bo.
Q7. In Scrooged (1988), when the prop man admits he can't figure out how to attach antlers to a mouse, what does Bill Murray's harsh-as-Hell TV executive suggest he use?Â
A7. Staples
Q8. What, according to Will Ferrell's Buddy in 2003's Elf, is the fourth food group after candy, candy canes and candy corns?
A8. Syrup
Q9. As played by Bill Nighy in Xmas essential Love, Actually (2003), what's the name of Billy Mack's shamelessly derivative #1 festive single?
A9. Christmas is all Around
Q10. Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the... What is so delightful?
A10. The fire
- Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, sung by Vaughn Monroe and featured on the soundtracks of both Die Hard (1988) and Die Hard 2 (1990).
BONUS ROUND: Die Hard (1988)
Q1. What's better than a shower and a hot cup of coffee after a tiring flight?
A1. After you get where you're going, take off your shoes and your socks, then walk around on the rug barefoot and make fists with your toes.
Q2. What's the name of the office building featured in the movie?
A2. Nakatomi Plaza
- In real-life, Fox Plaza, just built by 20th Century Fox, who made the film, and their new office block instantly iconic.
Q3. When you steal $600, you can just disappear. When you steal $600 million, they will find you, unless they think... What?
A3. That ...you're already dead."
What’s your favourite Christmas movie?
I'm taking a short break for Christmas so there'll be no Words of Nerd next Saturday, but be sure to check back on Wednesday, December 28 for a uniquely special celebration of Stan Lee's centenary. Nuff said!
Fiendish festive fun Batman. I must admit, I haven’t actually seen Home Alone so didn’t know many answers.