A Comprehensive Near Victory!

Hello ladies and gentlemen, you've come to the right place. You're in for the tale of our glorious near miss last night. Nelson would be proud! Back at the Victory pub again, it was almost a sad occasion as we bade farewell to our loyal shipmates Tom and Ellen who are not off to Scotland for good. Don't ask for details, it's a bit of a headache. Anyway, here's the lowdown on our quizzing performance...

29/07/14
The Victory (Curry and) Pub Quiz
The team: Me + 4 others
Result: 2nd (88/100)   Snowball (money round): Not chosen

I was pretty happy with our prowess, and everybody had something to add (which was handy as 3rd place got 86). We were fairly far off the top score of 94, but that's what this blog is all about.

Starter for 10: 10 of the 22 sports included in the Commonwealth Games

Here are the questions that caused the grief...

1) Frank Lampard signed to which football club this week?
2) Frances Shand Kydd was whose mother?
3) In which sport would you use a jess?
4) Which actor starred in the film City Lights?
5) In the nursery rhyme, Simple Simon was fishing for what?
6) Who famously said 'It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog'?

I can't say I'm too distressed about not getting this motley crew, but they're definitely ones to log for the future.

The Answers

1) New York City F.C.
2) Princess Diana (although, surely in theory you could have her brothers and sisters...)
3) Falconry
4) Charlie Chaplin
5) Whales
6) Mark Twain

The Excuses

1) Football is a perennial weak spot for me, but none of us had heard anything about this story at all. We went for Barcelona.
Quiz staple: After 13 seasons at Chelsea F.C., Lampard is the club's highest goalscorer of all time with 211.
2) Again, no idea, other than we assumed it had to be someone very famous indeed. Thinking that the name sounded American, I suggested Winston Churchill, (whose New York born mother was actually called Jeanette Jerome). Shand Kydd got the name from a later marriage.
Quiz staple: Princess Diana was born in 1961 in Sandringham House. There is a bulldog on Eastenders named after her.
3) There was no chance of us getting this. The jess is the leather strap used to tether the bird. I thought a jess might be a compliment to the jack in bowls.
Quiz staple: Falconry was only formalised in the UK under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act.
4) Again, little to no chance. I had no quibble with the team's answer of Russell Crowe, although as it turns out it's not exactly his era!
Quiz staple: City Lights is a 1931 film featuring the Tramp character and is a romantic comedy.
5) Don't think I'd ever heard this nursery rhyme beyond the first verse with the pieman. I suggested salmon, but I much preferred our other suggested answer of 'compliments'.
Quiz staple: The compilation of English language nursery rhymes is called the Roud Folk Song Index.
6) Should have known this, but drew a blank. Thinking it was either a boxing quip or possibly a Churchill quote, we opted for the latter.
Quiz staple: Mark Twain was born Samuel Clemens in Florida, Missouri. The beginning and end of his life (1835-1910) coincided with two sightings of Halley's Comet. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is often referred to as 'the Great American Novel'.

There were 6(!) Snowballs this week and I only knew one of them. If I haven't explained before the Snowball is when your team name is pulled out of a hat for a chance to win £100. Here are all 6 of the pesky blighters for your intense pleasure. We would only have won on Questions 3 and 6 (and 5 with the clue provided).

Snowball Questions

1) Which famous landmark would you find on Mount Lee?
2) Which famous actress was born Camille Javel?
3) Which famous artist designed the Chupa Chups logo?
4) In which year was Steven Hawking born - 1940, 1942 or 1947?
5) On which island was Popeye filmed?*
6) How many teams are competing in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow - 71 or 81?

*Q5 clue: The island was decorated for bravery during World War II.

Answers and additional trivia

1) The Hollywood sign
The sign was first erected in 1923 and originally spelt out 'HOLLYWOODLAND'.
2) Brigitte Bardot
Bardot's breakout film role was And God Created Woman in 1956. She has been fined several times for inciting racial hatred.
3) Salvador Dali
Dali's most famous work is probably the 1932 painting of melting clocks, 'The Persistence of Memory'. He had a pet ocelot named Babou.
4) 1942
Hawking, best known for the 1988 book 'A Brief History of Time', was diagnosed with motor neurone disease when he was 21 and only given 2 years to live at the time.
5) Malta
The island displays the George Cross on its flag. This list of films shot wholly or partly in Malta is quite impressive.
6) 71.
You either know it or you don't. Apparently the 2014 Games is the largest multi-sport event ever held in Scotland.

That's it for this week. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did (i.e. lots).
Until we meet again...

Bar Wars: The Saga Continues

This outing was one of incredible peaks and troughs. Some rounds were near perfect and others abysmal. I didn't help matters by turning up late and my friend didn't help either by refusing to remove his Google Glasses during the money round. Which may mean that Bar Wars has become the first quiz in the country to release this poster...


NO GOOGLE GLASS

 Anyway, it has to be said that all in all, this quiz was not our finest hour, though we did end up managing to walk away with the cash (Huzzah!). I hereby disclose our vital statistics...

27/07/2014
First Bowl Hereford Arena
Team: Me + 5 others
Position (main quiz): 6th = (53 points)   Money round: Win

Don't ask me how we managed equal 6th in the main quiz. We definitely didn't deserve that high a ranking. I think it was probably due to our perfect cartoon character picture round and a nearly perfect songs round. Here are the all too many bruisers that cost us the marks:

I am not including the ones I knew but was too late arriving to answer.
1) Juliette Norton is married to which celebrity chef?
2) Liebschen the cat appears in which movie based on a Roald Dahl book?
3) Which party won the Leominster South council by-election this week?
4) What percentage of new broadband users have opted out of the government's anti-pornography filter?
5) Who recently won Rear of the Year for the 2nd time?
6) The cycling team of which Commonwealth country were found riding on the M74 this week?
7) Henry Perky invented which breakfast cereal, the first breakfast cereal in the world?*
8) The M54 connects which 'city' to the M6?*
9) Pewter is an alloy of tin and what other element?* 
10) Which 3 seas border the Korean Peninsula?
11) Scotland only has 5 outdoor public swimming pools - True or False?

* Signals Wipeout round
The music round this week was to identify Disney films from their notable songs. Who cares, right? Well we did, and we ended up getting a slightly embarrassing 14/15. We couldn't identify the song from the Little Mermaid.

The Answers:
1) Jamie Oliver
2) The Witches
3) The Green Party
4) 96%
5) Carol Vorderman
6) Sri Lanka
7) Shredded Wheat
8) Telford
9) Lead
10) Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea, East China Sea
11) False - it only has 3

The Excuses:
1) A likely guess, but given that celebrity chefs is one of my weakest areas of quizzing knowledge, celebrity chef's spouses are even shakier ground.
Quiz info: 'Jools' designs the Little Bird range of clothing for Mothercare. The couples' children are called Poppy Honey, Daisy Boo, Petal Blossom and Buddy Bear.
2) I have read quite a lot of Roald Dahl's books, but sadly this once escaped me. This is one of those questions where when somebody suggests the correct answer, you get that 'Eureka' moment. Or at least, I think so, because I didn't turn up until after this question...)
Quiz info: The Witches film (1990) is the last film that Jim Henson (of Muppets fame) personally worked on.
3) Yet another recent politics question that completely escaped me. Herefordshire by-elections are generally incredibly badly reported, but this one is significant because it means that the Conservatives have lost their majority on the council. I suggested It's Our County, against better informed advice and lost the point for us.
Quiz info: Do you really want a local government fact? Oh alright. Despite often being referred to as a 'County Council', Herefordshire Council is actually a unitary authority. Fancy that!
4) We knew it was huge, but not this huge... (not a double entendre)
5) Something to add to the CV there. Carol previously won only in 2011. Her fellow winner was Olly Murs.
Quiz info: The first winner of the prestigious award was Barbara Windsor in 1976.
6) A news story that I read then immediately forgot about. It happened with Kenyan cyclists at the 2002 Manchester Games as well, but not on the M74.
7) Not one to guess on a Wipeout. I suggested Quaker Oats with no real conviction.
8) I was cross about this one as it gave us a WIPEOUT! Telford is a town, not a city, and I believe that our answer of Wolverhampton (which is) therefore stands, but I didn't argue it.
Quiz info: My father worked on the building of this road. That's more interesting than most trivia about motorways.
9) Guessed it, but didn't put it down. Wikipedia is a bit less forthright about what actually makes up pewter.
10) Feeling like a hero after this one because I guessed 2 out of 3 correctly and just went for South China Sea instead of East China Sea. The least bad wrong answer that I'll get for a while, I suspect.
Quiz info: Can't really think of anything, but Lt. Col Henry Blake from U.S. sitcom/drama M*A*S*H was killed while flying over the Sea of Japan in his final episode.
11) Who would have thought it? My brief Google searches have only found evidence of two - Gourock (Renfrewshire) and Tarlair (Aberdeenshire), raising the question about whether the third is actually Loch Ness... (Would appreciate it if anybody would let me know!)

And onto the final fling.
I was convinced that we hadn't done it to the point of surprise when our team name was called out at the end. I have decided that as the whole point of this blog is to help me improve (and people have told me that they like being able to answer questions that I can't), I shall list all 7 of the ones that I didn't know.

1) Marina Bay is the name of the Grand Prix circuit in which country?
2) Which British footballer was the first to receive 100 Champions League caps?
3) David Evans is the real name of which Irish musician?
4) Challis, loden and cheviot are all types of which fabric?
5) Journal for Plague Lovers was a 2009 album by which band?
6) In the human body, what is toxemia?
7) Abasiophilia is the sexual attraction to what?

The answers:

1) Singapore
2) David Beckham
3) The Edge
4) Wool
5) The Manic Street Preachers
6) Blood poisoning
7) Wheelchairs

The (personal) excuses:
1) It's sport, ergo I had no idea. F1 Grand Prix tracks would make an excellent quiz guide though.
Quiz info: Singapore is where you'll also find the famous Raffles Hotel.
2) Ditto. Well done team.
Quiz info: Beckham is the first English player to win the national league in 4 countries - England, Spain, the U.S. and France.
3) My team went for Bon Scott. That's how badly we didn't know it, apparently.
Quiz info: The Edge was born in Barking (then in Essex) in 1961.
4) If I had thought about this just a little more, I might have summoned something up, as Cheviot is a type of sheep from the border between Scotland and England.
5) Not my bag. (I've been fobbing a lot of these off recently)
Quiz info: The Manic Street Preachers had the first new No 1. single of the 21st Century, displacing Westlife with 'The Masses Against the Classes'.
6) Our resident medical student should have known this, but it might be a case of it being too general a term. Actually if I had made some effort with Greek and Latin, this should have been blatantly obvious - 'Toxi' - poison and 'aemia' referring to a blood condition e.g Leukaemia
7) Kudos to any of you who got this. Apparently it is an umbrella term for fetishes including casts, leg braces and other such aids to the disabled (temporary or otherwise). I can only assume my team knew this from an especially bad taste episode of South Park or something of the kind.

So there you have it. This has taken much too long to do and I haven't been able to check everything today, so as usual if you think some information is suspect, let me know.

Cheers, and stay tuned for my next quiz outing in a couple of days.

Best Picture Oscars (2000s)

Continuing the theme of my earlier blog post, I'm now delving back a little further into the Academy's past, not least because recent history is quite easy to forget if you don't revisit it. Below is a guide to the Best Picture winners from 2000 - 2009. I'm thinking of doing more posts for the nominated films that didn't quite make it, if there is demand.

This post will not be complete for a little while, but the end is now in sight. Spoilers in this article as always.

73rd Academy Awards - 2000/01
Winner: Gladiator
Defeated: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Chocolat
Synopsis: Aging Emperor Marcus Aurelius decides to offer the successful General Maximus Decimus Meridius the right to succeed him, alienating his son Commodus. Killing his father, Commodus asks for Maximus's loyalty, but he refuses, endangering himself and his family. Finding his wife and son dead, Maximus is captured and sold to Proximo. Highly effective in his new life as a gladiator, Maximus performs at the Colosseum, and Commodus comes to congratulate him. Revealing his identity, Maximus chooses not to kill Commodus as he has planned. Maximus defeats all future attempts by Commodus to exterminate him. With Maximus growing in popularity, Commodus has no alternative but to challenge him to a duel. Despite foul play by Commodus, Maximus kills him and dies a hero's death.
Setting: 180 - c.182, Roman Empire
Screenplay: David Franzoni, John Logan, William Nicholson (Length (Director's Cut): 2 hours, 44 mins)
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Russell Crowe (Maximus Decimus Meridius), Joaquin Phoenix (Commodus), Connie Nielsen (Lucilla), Oliver Reed (Antonius Proximo), Derek Jacobi (Senator Gracchus), Djimon Hounsou (Juba), Richard Harris (Marcus Aurelius)
Music: Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard*
Distributed by: DreamWorks Pictures (US), Universal Pictures
Tagline: 'What we do in life echoes in eternity.'
Also won: Best Actor, Best Sound Mixing, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Effects
Total: 5/12
BAFTA Best Film: Yes
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Drama): Yes
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant historical inaccuracies: - Commodus was already co-Emperor with his father at the time this film is set.
- Commodus did not kill Marcus Aurelius, who died of plague in Vindobona (now Vienna). Commodus was killed, but was strangled in the bath by his wrestling partner Narcissus (on whom Maximus is thought to be based), in the year 192.
- Under the Roman naming system, Maximus's full name should really be Decimus Aelius Maximus Meridius.
- The death of the combatants in gladiatorial fights was in reality quite rare.
Firsts: Gladiator was the first film to become Best Picture without taking a directing or screenwriting Oscar since 1949.
Trivia: Oliver Reed died of a heart attack in Malta during the making of this film, meaning that CGI had to be used in order to complete some of his scenes.
- British-Iranian comedian Omid Djalili appears in the film as a slave trader.
*Lisa Gerrard was not nominated for an Oscar under the Academy rules at the time.


74th Academy Awards - 2001/02
Winner: A Beautiful Mind
Defeated: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Moulin Rouge!, Gosford Park, In the Bedroom
Synopsis: This film is a biopic of the American mathematician and Nobel Prize winner John Nash. The film begins with Nash formulating and publishing the 'Nash equilibrium', his contribution to the concept of game theory, on the strength of which he earns an appointment at MIT.
Nash is later invited to the Pentagon where he is to be employed by William Parcher to crack enemy codes. His close involvement leads him to become obsessed with the threat from the Soviets. Nash's increasing fear for his life leads to him being sent to a psychiatric facility where he is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Nash receives treatment but stops taking his medication after his release due to the side effects. This leads to a relapse where he endangers the lives of his wife, Alicia, and their child. Nash finally accepts that he is having hallucinations and resolves to learn to deal with them. He is eventually awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on game theory in 1994.
Setting: 1947 - 1994, New Jersey, Massachusetts, The Pentagon (hallucination)
Screenplay: Akiva Goldsman (Based on 'A Beautiful Mind' by Sylvia Nasar - Length: 2 hours, 15 minutes)
Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Russell Crowe (John Nash, Jr.), Ed Harris (William Parcher), Jennifer Connelly (Alicia Larde-Nash), Paul Bettany (Charles Herman), Adam Goldberg (Sol), Judd Hirsch (Helinger), John Lucas (Martin Hansen), Anthony Rapp (Bender), Vivien Cardone (Marcee), Christopher Plummer (Dr. Rosen), Jason Gray-Stanford (Ainsley Neilson)
Music: James Horner
Distributed by: Universal Pictures (US), DreamWorks Pictures
Tagline: 'He saw the world in a way no one could have imagined.'
Also won: Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay
Total: 4/8
BAFTA Best Film: No (Lord Of the Rings: The Fellowship Of the Ring)
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Drama): Yes
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant historical inaccuracies: - Nash's hallucinations were only auditory, not visual.
- Most of the supporting characters are not directly based on real people.
- Alicia divorced Nash in 1963, though they began living together again in 1970. They renewed their relationship in 1994.
Trivia: The film makes no mention of Nash's relationship with his nurse Eleanor Stier, nor their son, John David Stier.
This is the third Best Picture winner in a row to have been distributed by DreamWorks Pictures.


75th Academy Awards - 2002/03
Winner: Chicago
Defeated: The Pianist, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Hours, Gangs of New York
Synopsis: This film is based on the 1975 musical. When her relationship with her lover takes a turn for the worse, aspiring vaudeville star Roxie Hart shoots him and persuades her husband to take the blame. However, she is found out and sent to Cook County Jail, where she awaits trial, and if convicted, the death penalty. Whilst there she attempts to befriend Velma Kelly, a show business star who had murdered her husband and sister. She fails and instead engages Velma's lawyer Billy Flynn in taking up her case. When Roxie and Flynn become the centre of media attention, Velma becomes concerned that Roxie is a distraction from her case. In order to create greater coverage, Roxie pretends to be pregnant with a child out of wedlock. Roxie continues to follow Flynn's unconventional tactics and is finally acquitted, despite a last-ditch attempt by Velma to ruin her defence. However, as soon as she is freed, the press finds a new sensational trial to cover and Roxie is forgotten. Despite despising her, Roxy agrees to team up with Velma in a Jazz killers act, and finally realises her dream of stardom.
Setting: c.1924, Chicago, Illinois
Screenplay: Bill Condon (Based on 'Chicago' by Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb - Length: 1 hour 53 minutes)
Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Renee Zellweger (Roxanne 'Roxie' Hart), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Velma Kelly), Richard Gere (Billy Flynn), Queen Latifah (Matron 'Mama' Morton), John C. Reilly (Amos Hart), Christine Baranski (Mary Sunshine), Taye Diggs (The Bandleader)
Music: John Kander (music), Fred Ebb (lyrics)
Distributed by: Miramax Films
Tagline: 'If you can't be famous, be infamous.'
Also won: Best Supporting Actress, Best Sound, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing
Total: 6/13
BAFTA Best Film: No (The Pianist)
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): Yes
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant inaccuracies: - None evident
Firsts: - This is the first musical to win Best Picture since Oliver! in 1969.
Trivia: - Chicago is currently the longest running musical (and third longest running show) ever on Broadway.
- The film is based on a musical, based on a play, based on the real life cases of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner.
- The song 'Class' was not present in the theatrical release of the film, but was included on the DVD.
- R&B singer Mya appears in this film as Mona, one of the prisoners.
Notable Songs: All That Jazz, Cell Block Tango, Razzle Dazzle


76th Academy Awards - 2003/04
Winner: The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Defeated: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mystic River, Seabiscuit, Lost in Translation
Synopsis: This film is the final part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
With the wizard Saruman now defeated, Aragorn, Gandalf and the others can at last turn their full attention to the threat to Middle Earth from Mordor. When Pippin observes the potential destruction of the city of Minas Tirith through a seeing stone (palantir), he and Gandalf ride there at once, where they find the Lord Steward Denethor ill prepared for the coming siege. When his son Faramir is mortally wounded, Denethor is driven to insanity, leaving Gandalf responsible for the city's defences. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are tasked with seeking the assistance of the undead warriors who King Isildur cursed for their cowardice many years before. As a descendant of Isildur, Aragorn is the only one who can release their souls to the afterlife, and they agree to fight for him in return.
Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam continue their journey into Mordor. Despite a near fatal trap laid by their sinister guide Gollum, Frodo and Sam finally reach the volcano Mount Doom, which is the only place where the Dark Lord Sauron's powerful magical ring can be destroyed. Having successfully defeated Sauron's forces at Minas Tirith, Aragorn and Gandalf decide to march on Mordor to divert attention from Frodo and Sam's dangerous mission. In Mount Doom, Gollum reappears and attacks Frodo, seizing the ring. However, clutching his new prize, Gollum falls to his death, and in so doing causes the collapse of the evil kingdom.
Setting: The Third Age, Middle Earth (mainly Gondor, Rohan and Mordor)
Screenplay: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens (Based on 'The Return of the King' by J. R. R. Tolkien - Length: 3 hours, 21 minutes)
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Ian McKellen (Gandalf the White), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee), Andy Serkis (Gollum/Sméagol), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), John Rhys-Davies (Gimli), Billy Boyd (Pippin Took), Dominic Monaghan (Merry Brandybuck), Bernard Hill (King Théoden), Miranda Otto (Eowyn), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), John Noble (Denethor)
Music: Howard Shore
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
Tagline: 'The journey ends.'
Also won: Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Original Song ('Into the West'), Best Sound Mixing, Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects
Total: 11/11
BAFTA Best Film: Yes
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Drama): Yes
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant changes: - Much of Frodo and Sam's story line is actually from the previous book in the series, the Two Towers. The Return of the King novel begins with Frodo's rescue from the Tower of Cirith Ungol.
- In the books, Gollum did not succeed in turning Frodo against Sam.
- In the books, the army of ghosts does not accompany Aragorn to Minas Tirith; instead he only enlists them in dispersing the Corsairs of Umbar.
Firsts: - This is the first fantasy film to win Best Picture.
Trivia: There is a mountain of Lord of the Rings trivia out there, if you're interested, but the following is mainly about the film itself rather than the story -
- Director Peter Jackson has an onscreen cameo as one of the Corsairs of Umbar.
- Winning all 11 of its nominations, the Return of the King has won the joint highest amount of Oscars of any film (with Ben Hur and Titanic), and also holds the record for largest clean sweep.
- The Return of the King was only the second film ever to gross over $1 billion worldwide (after Titanic).
- According to moviebodycounts.com, The Return Of the King has the most deaths of any movie ever made, with 836 total kills.


77th Academy Awards - 2004/05
Winner: Million Dollar Baby
Defeated: The Aviator, Ray, Finding Neverland, Sideways
Synopsis: This story is narrated by Eddie 'Scrap-Iron' Dupris.
Missouri born waitress Maggie Fitzgerald is determined to become a boxer, but Frankie Dunn, owner of the Hit Pit gym, is reluctant to train a woman. However, Dunn's friend 'Scrap-Iron' encourages her, and when Dunn's prize fighter signs to Mickey Mack, Dunn decides to give her an opportunity. Initially intending on leaving Maggie with another manager, Dunn changes his mind. Maggie gradually becomes more and more successful and the two embark on a tour through Europe. Maggie's family care little for her success and disapprove of her career. Dunn arranges a title fight for Maggie in Las Vegas, but despite her showing early promise, Maggie is left disabled by a sucker punch. With her family more interested in their inheritance than her well-being, Dunn takes it upon himself to look after her, but he is left with an agonising choice when Maggie makes it clear that she wishes to be euthanized rather than live on with no hope of recovery.
Setting: c. 2004, USA, mainly Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Europe
Screenplay: Paul Haggis (Based on 'Rope Burns: Stories From the Corner' by F. X. Toole - Length: 2 hours, 12 minutes)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood (Frankie Dunn), Hilary Swank (Maggie Fitzgerald), Morgan Freeman (Eddie 'Scrap-Iron' Dupris)
Music: Clint Eastwood
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Tagline: None
Also won: Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor
Total: 4/7
BAFTA Best Film: No (The Aviator)
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Drama): No (The Aviator)
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant inaccuracies: None
Trivia: - The name of the film comes from writing on the nose of a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber aircraft.
- Clint Eastwood's daughter Morgan Colette has a cameo in this film.
- Eastwood shot the film in under 40 days.
- Lucia Rijker, who plays Billie 'the Blue Bear' who seriously injures Maggie, is a professional boxer and has been dubbed 'The Most Dangerous Woman In the World'.


78th Academy Awards - 2005/06
Winner: Crash
Defeated: Brokeback Mountain, Good Night and Good Luck., Capote, Munich
Synopsis: This film features many interwoven storylines, all concerning the theme of racism. This synopsis does not feature every storyline.
Two black men, Anthony and Peter, carjack district attorney Rick Cabot and his wife Jean. Two police officers, Ryan and Hansen, pull over a similar car which happens to belong to TV director Cameron Thayer and his wife Christine, who were engaging in a sexual act. Ryan uses the opportunity to sexually assault Christine, while her husband says nothing.
Later, Cameron himself is carjacked by Anthony and Peter, but he resists and a car chase ensues with Anthony holding a gun to Cameron's head. However, Cameron and Hansen manage to resolve the situation, though Anthony remains at large. Hansen gives Peter a ride home, but tragedy strikes in a terrible misunderstanding. Anthony goes onto carjack the van of an Asian man that he had run over earlier, which is revealed to be full of trafficked migrants. At the same time, Christine becomes the victim in a car accident and it falls to Ryan to save her before her car bursts into flame.
Concurrently, Farhad, a Persian shop owner, becomes enraged with a Hispanic locksmith, Daniel, who he believes is ripping him off. Finding his shop vandalised the next day, Farhad assumes that Daniel is responsible and locates his house with the intention of shooting him. Fortunately, Farhad's daughter has loaded the gun with blanks and Farhad realises the brutality of what he had meant to do.
Meanwhile, Jean Cabot learns the error of her prejudice when her maid, whom she had previously disparaged, saves her from serious harm after a nasty accident; and Detective Waters is instructed by his drug addicted mother to find his missing brother.
Setting: c. 2004, Los Angeles
Screenplay: Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco (Length: 1 hour, 52 minutes)
Director: Paul Haggis
Starring: Sandra Bullock (Jean Cabot), Don Cheadle (Detective Graham Waters), Matt Dillon (Officer John Ryan), Jennifer Esposito (Ria), Michael Pena (Daniel Ruiz), Brendan Fraser (Rick Cabot), Terrence Howard (Cameron Thayer), Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges (Anthony), Larenz Tate (Peter), Thandie Newton (Christine Thayer), Ryan Phillippe (Officer Tom Hansen), Shaun Toub (Farhad)
Music: Mark Isham
Distributed by: Lionsgate (US), Pathe (UK)
Tagline: 'Moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other.'
Also won: Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing
Total: 3/6
BAFTA Best Film: No (Brokeback Mountain)
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Drama): No (Brokeback Mountain)
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant inaccuracies: None
Trivia: - Crash is considered a surprise Best Picture winner, with Brokeback Mountain the heavy favourite. Crash was not even nominated for Best Motion Picture (Drama) at the Golden Globe Awards.
- Crash was the last Best Picture winner to be released on VHS and the first to be released on Blu-Ray in the US.
- The film inspired a TV series of the same name starring Dennis Hopper. It was to be Hopper's last on screen role, as he died of prostate cancer in 2010.


79th Academy Awards - 2006/07
Winner: The Departed
Defeated: Little Miss Sunshine, Babel, The Queen, Letters From Iwo Jima
Synopsis: Irish mob boss Frank Costello pulls Colin Sullivan into his fold with the intention of making him a mole in the Massachusetts State Police. Sullivan succeeds in being accepted to the Special Investigations Unit. At the same time, aspiring police officer Billy Costigan is tasked with going undercover in Costello's world of organised crime, thanks to his family connections. Coincidentally both men develop a relationship with the same woman, the psychiatrist Madolyn Madden. When Costello is nearly caught in a sting operation, it becomes clear that both the Police and the mob have been infiltrated. Sullivan has Costigan's superior, Captain Queenan, tailed and Queenan is killed. Sullivan's research into Queenan's diary reveals that Costello is an informant for the FBI. With Sullivan now aware of Costigan's identity, the two men stage an ambush on Costello, who Sullivan kills. With Sullivan a hero in the Police Force, Costigan soon realises the danger he is in and flees. Madolyn reveals she is pregnant, but Sullivan becomes suspicious of who the father is upon discovering Madolyn listening to some of Costello's recordings of his conversations with Sullivan. Sullivan finds that Costigan wishes to use the recordings to implicate him, and the two agree to meet. However, the consequences of this meeting are far from straightforward.
Setting: c. 2006, Boston, Massachusetts
Screenplay: William Monahan (Based on 'Infernal Affairs' by Alan Mak and Feliz Chong - Length: 2 hours, 31 minutes)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio (Billy Costigan), Matt Damon (Colin Sullivan), Jack Nicholson (Frank Costello), Mark Wahlberg (Staff Sergeant Sean Dignam), Martin Sheen (Captain Oliver Queenan), Ray Winstone (Arnold 'Frenchy' French), Vera Farmiga (Dr. Marolyn Madden), Alec Baldwin (Captain George Ellerby)
Music: Howard Shore
Distributed by: Warner Bros.
Tagline: 'Cops or criminals. When you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?'
Also won: Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing
Total: 4/5
BAFTA Best Film: No (The Queen)
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Drama): No (Babel)
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant inaccuracies: None
Trivia: - The Departed is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film 'Infernal Affairs'.
- The character of Frank Costello is based upon notorious Boston based criminal James 'Whitey' Bulger.
- Drawing inspiration from the 1932 film Scarface, an X motif is used in various guises to foreshadow death throughout the film.
- This film marked Martin Scorsese's 7th nomination for Best Director, and his first win.


80th Academy Awards - 2007/08
Winner: No Country for Old Men
Defeated: There Will Be Blood, Atonement, Michael Clayton, Juno
Synopsis: Whilst hunting in the Texan desert, Llewelyn Moss discovers the grisly aftermath of a failed drug deal, where he happens upon a satchel containing $2 million. Sending his wife, Carla Jean, to stay with her mother for her safety, Moss flees to a motel and hides the cash in an air duct. However, a ruthless hitman, Anton Chigurh, has been tasked with recovering the money. Chigurh is able to track the satchel via a transmitter present inside it and locates Moss's motel. Chigurh kills an ambush party lying in wait for Moss, but a paranoid Moss has escaped. Before he can dispose of the transmitter, Chigurh has caught up with Moss and they are both wounded in the resulting gunfight. After crossing the Mexican border, Moss hopes that bounty hunter Carson Wells will protect him, but Chigurh kills Wells at his hotel. Over Well's phone, Chigurh threatens Carla Jean's life if Moss does not return the money. Moss secretively arranges to meet his wife and give her the satchel, but her mother accidentally betrays him and Moss is killed by a Mexican gang and the money is lost. Carla Jean accepts protection from Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, who has been hot on the heels of Moss and Chigurh. However, Chigurh finds Carla Jean and offers her the toss of a coin to decide whether she will keep her life. She refuses and Chigurh leaves with Carla Jean presumably dead. Bell, tired of the endless onslaught of violence he has witnessed over the years, finally makes the decision to retire from the police.
Setting: 1980, Texas, Northern Mexico
Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen (Based on 'No Country for Old Men' by Cormac McCarthy - Length: 2 hours, 2 minutes)
Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones (Sheriff Ed Tom Bell), Javier Bardem (Anton Chigurh), Josh Brolin (Llewelyn Moss), Kelly Macdonald (Carla Jean Moss), Woody Harrelson (Carson Wells)
Music: Carter Burwell
Distributed by: Miramax Films, Paramount Vantage
Tagline: 'There are no clean getaways.'
Also won: Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay
Total: 4/8
BAFTA Best Film: No (Atonement)
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Drama): No (Atonement)
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant changes: Whereas Sheriff Ed Tom Bell's narration was a consistent theme in the book, Bell only narrates the beginning of the movie and his role is reduced at the expense of the other characters.
Trivia: - The title of 'No Country for Old Men' is based on the first line of the 1928 poem Sailing To Byzantium by Irish poet W. B. Yeats.
- This is the second time that the Coen Brothers have adapted a novel by Cormac McCarthy, the first being All the Pretty Horses in 2000.
- Wikipedia has a whole page dedicated specifically to analysis of this film.


81st Academy Awards - 2008/09
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
Defeated: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, The Reader, Frost/Nixon
Synopsis: The film begins in a studio during the filming of Indian gameshow Kaun Banega Crorepari (the Indian version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?) where Jamal Malik, a poor teenager who hails from the Juhu suburb of Mumbai, is one question away from winning 20 million rupees. However, before the final question can be asked, Jamal is accosted by the police who assume that he must have been cheating in order to progress so far through the show, given the unlikelihood that a 'slumdog' would have a sufficient level of education. The film then uses a series of flashbacks in order to demonstrate how, by coincidence, Jamal has directly experienced the answer to each question. Living with his money obsessed elder brother Salim, his tale encompasses their battles with ruthless criminals, their life travelling on the rooftops of trains and their efforts to make a living from both working and stealing from others. The brothers are able to rescue Latika, a friend from before their escape from the slum, from a life of prostitution at the hands of the exploitative crime lord Maman. However, after Salim kills Maman, he is offered the chance to work for Maman's rival Javed and Salim orders Jamal to leave him and Latika. Years later, Jamal manages to track down Salim, who is still working for Javed. Finding Latika at Javed's residence, Jamal only manages to speak to her briefly, but is insistent that they meet again. However, Salim conspires to stop this and Latika is kidnapped by Javed's men. Jamal reveals that he has sought to appear on the programme in order to reconnect with Lakita, who is a regular viewer. It is also revealed that the host, Prem Kumar, is prejudiced towards Jamal and it is he who has contacted the police. Jamal is allowed to continue competing, and after watching coverage of Jamal's feat, a guilty Salim offers Lakita the chance to escape. When Jamal uses his Phone-A-Friend lifeline, he discovers Lakita is safe, and guesses the final question correctly. Jamal and Latika reunite and begin their romance, but Salim's fate is sealed and he is murdered after killing Javed.
Setting: 1993 - 2006, India, primarily Mumbai
Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy (Based on 'Q & A' by Vikas Swarup - Length: 2 hours)
Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan*
Starring: Dev Patel (Jamal Malik), Frieda Pinto (Lakita), Madhur Mittal (Salim Malik), Anil Kapoor (Prem Kumar), Irrfan Khan (Police Inspector), Ankur Vikal (Maman), Mahesh Manjrekar (Javed Khan)
Music: A. R. Rahman
Distributed by: Pathe, Eros Entertainment (UK), Fox Searchlight Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures (US)
Tagline: 'What does it take to find a lost love? A) Money B) Luck C) Brainpower D) Destiny'
Also won: Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Original Song (Jai Ho!), Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing
Total: 7/10
BAFTA Best Film: Yes
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Drama): Yes
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant inaccuracies: - The film attributes the song 'Darshan Do Ganshyam' to the poet Surdas, but it was actually written by Gopal Singh Nepali for the 1957 film Narsi Bhagat, prompting a lawsuit from his family.
Trivia: - *Casting director Loveleen Tandan is credited as a Co-Director (India) for her work on this film, which caused some controversy when she was not nominated for Best Director with Danny Boyle at the Oscars.
- On the films release, many Indians objected to the use of the word 'slumdog' to describe Jamal and others from the same background. Boyle states that his intention was that 'slumdog' was a condensation of the words 'slum' and 'underdog'. The dubbed Hindi version of the film is entitled 'Slumdog Crorepati'.
- It was revealed that the child actors who played the parts of the young Salim and the young Latika were paid comparatively low sums of money for their roles and continued to live in slums during filming. Boyle's response to this was that he had set up a trust fund for the actors and made provisions for their education up to the age of 18.
- 'Jai Ho!', the movie's most notable song, was later released as a single by the Pussycat Dolls ft. Nicole Scherzinger, retitled 'Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny).


82nd Academy Awards - 2009/10
Winner: The Hurt Locker
Defeated: Avatar, Precious, Up, Inglourious Basterds, The Blind Side, Up In the Air, District 9, An Education, A Serious Man

Synopsis: When Staff Sergeant Matthew Thompson is killed by an improvised explosive device, Sergeant First Class William James is sent to replace him as the leader of a bomb disposal team. The films follows the various life threatening situations that the squad are forced to endure. Sergeant Sanborn and Specialist Eldridge consider James' approach to military life to be rash and potentially dangerous, and Sanborn even contemplates murdering James and making it look like an accident. After discovering a team of mercenaries with high profile Iraqi hostages, the bomb disposal squad comes under fire and is forced to kill their adversaries. Managing to survive, they make their way back to Camp Victory. James later becomes distressed at discovering the body of a boy, 'Beckham', that he had befriended whilst he is conducting a raid on a warehouse and vows to seek revenge on his killers. Eldridge is similarly tormented by the death of his friend Lieutenant Colonel Cambridge, for which he blames himself. After being called to deal with an exploded petrol tanker, James decides to search for the responsible militants, with Eldridge and Sanborn agreeing to help, despite protest. Eldridge is consequently taken prisoner by insurgents, and James and Sanborn injure him whilst coming to his rescue, meaning that Eldridge will require surgery on his leg. When James discovers Beckham is actually alive, Eldridge is furious with James for his recklessness. On the last few days of their rotation, the squad is called to save an Iraqi civilian, who has had a bomb secured to his body. James tries, but is unable to save him and Sanborn is deeply affected by the man's death, realising that he wishes to return home and start a family. James, however, is ill-suited to civilian life and soon returns to service, professing that it is the only thing he really loves.    
Setting: c. 2004, Iraq
Screenplay: Mark Boal (Length: 2 hours, 11 minutes)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jeremy Renner (Sergeant First Class William James), Anthony Mackie (Sergeant J. T. Sanborn), Brian Geraghty (Specialist Owen Eldridge), Christian Camargo (Lieutenant Colonel John Cambridge), Evangeline Lily (Connie James), Ralph Fiennes (Private Military Company Unit Leader), David Morse (Colonel Reed), Guy Pearce (Staff Sergeant Matthew Thompson), Christopher Sayegh ('Beckham')
Music: Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders
Distributed by: Summit Entertainment/Universal Studios (USA), Lionsgate/Optimum Releasing (UK), Warner Bros. (Italy)
Tagline: 'You don't have to be a hero to do this job. But it helps.'
Also won: Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing
Total: 6/9
BAFTA Best Film: Yes
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Drama): No (Avatar)
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant inaccuracies: - The film has been criticised for entertaining ideas that are not in line with army protocol (for instance, the decision of the squad to split up in the wake of an explosion), and James' general impetuousness. It has also been highlighted for an unrealistic lack of radio contact between the servicemen.
Trivia: - The film is based on the findings of American journalist Mark Boal from his time as an embedded reporter on the front line.
- The name 'The Hurt Locker' is based on a term first recorded in the Vietnam War, with Boal describing it as 'somewhere you don't want to be'.
- Bigelow became the first (and so far, only) woman to win a Best Director Oscar for her work on this film, famously beating her husband James Cameron, for Avatar.
- The film was shot on location in Jordan, in order to show landscapes as close to reality as possible. Bigelow cast several Iraqi refugees as extras.
- Voltage Pictures announced their intention to sue computer users who downloaded pirated versions of the film. The case has since been dropped.


That's all of them. If you'd like me to do another decade, or have a go at a guide to some of the losing nominees, don't hesitate to comment and let me know.

The World's Most Populous Cities

I said earlier in the week that I would attempt to compile a list of the world's largest cities. However, this in itself is easier said than done. There are many different measures of what a city is, but there are 3 main categories -

1) City proper
- This is the most straightforward definition of a city. It is a measure of how many people live within a community's politically defined boundaries. So if we take London as an example, this would be all the people living in the 33 districts from Hillingdon (West) to Havering (East), and Enfield (North) to Croydon (South). This equates to roughly 8.4 million people, and these are in the area covered by the Metropolitan Police and are able to vote for the Mayor.

2) Urban Area
- This is probably what most people think of when they imagine a city. Put simply, this is essentially the measure of continuous sprawl without too much green space in between. If we take the case of London again, this would include most of the 33 districts, plus certain parts of the Home Counties. These are generally right on the border, and include Watford, St Albans, Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire), Bracknell (Berkshire), Woking, Guildford (Surrey), north west Kent and Harlow (Essex), making up about 9.8 million people. This is most likely to be the criteria used for comparisons of international cities and I will do a guide to these over the coming days.

3) Metropolitan Area
- This is difficult to define, especially when comparing internationally. Generally, it refers to the amount of people within a practical commutable distance from a city. In the case of London this refers to the majority of the Home Counties, with a bit of wiggle room here and there. This means that it can (by certain definitions) include places like Southend, Milton Keynes, Reading, Luton and Dover, which are obviously distinct from London and where nobody who came from there would consider themselves a Londoner (It stretches over more than 15 million people). This definition is probably best used as an economic measure.

As you can see from these figures, the definitions often produce wildly different outcomes...

(Numbers) represent millions of people.

   City proper                                  Urban Area                          
1) Shanghai (24)                            1) Tokyo (38)
2) Beijing (21)                               2) New Delhi (25)
3) Karachi (21)                              3) Shanghai (23)
4) Lagos (17)                                 4=) Mumbai (21)
5) Istanbul (14)                              4=) Sao Paulo (21)
6) Guangzhou (13)                        4=) Mexico City (21)
7) Mumbai (12.5)                          7) Osaka (20)
8) Moscow (12)                             8) Beijing (20)
9) Sao Paulo (12)                           9=) New York (18.5)
10) Lahore (11.5)                           9=) Cairo (18.5)

Hopefully once I've had a better look at this I can do a proper rundown of the largest urban areas for future reference. This sort of thing is unfortunately a quizzer's nightmare as all the information is so at odds with other available information. I'll just have to see how much of a nightmare this turns into.

Quiz Fiend's First Victory!

Yes, it's true. For the very first time since starting this blog, the sweet aroma of a win has found its way to my team and smothered us with its warm embrace. Back at the (rather appropriately named) Victory pub this time, after the first half this feat looked very much in doubt. However, an almost unprecedented second half spurt secured us 1st place by just two points. Obviously, I'm understandably chuffed at this outcome, but that doesn't mean that I'll be overlooking my standard dissection of the ones that got away. Here we go...

22/07/2014
My team: Me + 4 others
Total points: 84/100 (1st)

With only 3 more points than last time, it doesn't look quite so impressive, but that's how these things often pan out. We were still £30 better off than last time.

Questions incorrect:
1-3) The 'Starter for Ten' was to name 10 of the 14 most populous cities (proper) in the world. We managed 7/10.
4) Which is the largest of the Greek Ionian islands?
5) Which of these cities is furthest north - Edinburgh, Copenhagen or Moscow?
6) Which liquid is the basis for Tabasco sauce?
7) Which company invented instant coffee?
71/2) The ilium is found where in the body?
8) The ileum is found where in the body?

The Starter for 10 is a fairly contentious minefield (not helped by the figures for the quiz being 4 years old) and I intend to write a guide to it in the near future. As for the others, here are the correct answers:

4) Cephalonia
5) Edinburgh
6) Vinegar
7) Nestle
71/2) The hip
8) Small intestine

The excuses:
4) We went for Corfu, which as it turns out is the second largest Ionian island. So as guesses go, we didn't have too much to be ashamed of.
Quiz nugget: Cephalonia is the setting for Louis de Bernieres' award winning 1994 novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin.
5) Latitudes are always a pain in the backside and my crudely drawn map ruined the day, opting for Moscow. If I hadn't bothered, we would have got the point.
Quiz nugget: Edinburgh is known as the 'Athens of the North' due to it's historically high educational reputation.
6) Not one that I even felt qualified to hazard a guess at.
Quiz nugget: Tabasco sauce was first produced in Louisiana in 1868 (and not the Mexican state of Tabasco)
7) Here is the story according to Nestle, who claim to have invented it in 1938. We went for Nescafe (the brand name).
71/2) We got 1 point for putting down 'pelvis', which seems a little harsh. Wikipedia's definition of the ilium is 'the largest bone of the pelvis'.
8) Another 1 pointer, this time more justifiably. We needed to specify 'small' for both marks. Apparently 'Ileum' is from the Greek meaning 'to twist up tightly'.

So there we have it. Not bad for a few hours work! I know you probably won't share all of my joy as you read this but I hope this has at least quenched your ravenous thirst until my next upload. See you soon, and as always, don't hesitate to correct anything I've put down here.

Toodles.

Pokemon Movies

I have been asked by a friend to provide a brief guide to the movies of the Pokémon franchise. There are now 17(!) movies in the series and I can only claim to have seen about 3. Still, I used to be a bit of a PokeNerd back in the day so here is my attempt to provide a guide.

This guide will not be finished for a long time, but here are the first couple.

1) Pokémon: The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back
Japanese title: Mewtwo's Counterattack
English version released: 1999
Synopsis: Team Rocket create a new Pokémon (Mewtwo) using the DNA of the legendary Pokémon Mew. However, Mewtwo is too powerful to be controlled and escapes. Inviting a group of trainers to journey to an abandoned island, Mewtwo aims to clone their Pokémon so that he can seek vengeance on humanity. However, inevitably, Ash saves the day and everybody learns a lesson. Or they would have done if Mewtwo didn't erase all their memories of the incident.
Ash's Pokémon: Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charizard, Squirtle
Misty's Pokémon: Togepi, Staryu, Psyduck
Brock's Pokémon: Vulpix
Team Rocket: Arbok, Weezing
Short: Pikachu's Vacation
Trivia: My friend Stifyn informs me that Pikachu's Vacation marks the on-screen debut of 3 Pokémon (Snubbull, Marill and Mr. Mime), all of which would be subsequently converted to Fairy types in Generation 6.
Stifyn also thinks it noteworthy that his mother fell asleep in the cinema during this film. I wholeheartedly agree!

2) Pokémon: The Movie 2000 - The Power Of One
Japanese title: Revelation Lugia
English version released: 2000
Synopsis: A Pokémon collector aims to catch all 3 legendary birds (Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres) and then use their power to catch Lugia. Unsurprisingly, his plan doesn't work and the birds start to attack each other, awakening Lugia in the process. Lugia tries to stop them but fails. Handily, Ash turns out to be the Chosen One and ends up saving the day.
Ash's Pokémon: Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charizard, Squirtle, Lapras, Snorlax
Misty's Pokémon: Togepi, Staryu, Goldeen, Psyduck
Tracey's Pokémon: Marill, Venonat, Scyther
Team Rocket: Weezing
Short: Pikachu's Rescue Adventure
Trivia: Donna Summer performs the theme song 'The Power Of One' for the main feature.
U.S. presidential hopeful Herman Cain quoted this song numerous times during the 2012 Republican primaries, attributing the lyrics to 'a poet'.

Welcome

Welcome to Quiz Fiend, my newish blog inspired by pubquizpostmortem. I'm a keen pub quizzer and I love a challenge. The current aim of my blog is twofold:

1) To painstakingly evaluate my prowess at pub quizzes, agonising over incorrect answers and conducting some brief research so I never fall into the same traps again (which happens all too often)

2) To make comprehensive quiz guides to subjects that I am weak on or could at least use some brushing up. I am happy to take requests for a quiz guide if you would like a no effort required cheat sheet to a pain-in-the-arse pub quiz topic. (Think of your friends' open mouths as you look like you're actually pretty wise about subjects like English kings and Renaissance art. I doubt I'll do quantum physics though.)  

I may eventually start putting some of my own quizzes on this site when/if I get enough traffic. Don't hesitate to tell me if you think anything I've put on here is a load of guff. I'll investigate it, because at the end of the day, I don't want to get it wrong either.

I hope to update this blog as often as I can, so come back regularly, you're guaranteed a treat*.



*Not a guarantee.

The Second Quiz Fiend Outing - TGS Lowdown

The other highlight of the quizzing week is at the First Bowl Hereford Arena on Sundays. It's quite a tough cookie all in all, and once again the big money is separated from the main quiz. Tonight was a pretty standard affair, nothing spectacular, but not a total meltdown either.

20/07/2014
The team: Me + 1 other
Total points: Joint 8th 49/82

The score probably looks worse than it is. The chief problem with our performance is that so much hinges on the music round, which is worth 20 points, and at which I am pretty much dreadful. Without the music round we had a much healthier 46/62.

Below are our kryptonite questions this week. Questions marked with a * are part of the Wipeout round.

Picture round: Buildings
Misidentified:
a) One World Trade Center
b) The Shard
c) Victoria and Albert Museum
d) Hogwarts
Other Questions:
1) Ed Miliband succeeded who as leader of the Labour Party?
2) Podophobia is the fear of which body part?
3) England have been demoted to what in the FIFA World Rankings?
4) *Government military science park Porton Down is in which county?
5) *Who presents Sky Sports Super Saturday?
6) *How many pieces are there in a Jenga set, 48 or 54?
7) *Which confectionary item was the first product to incorporate a bar code?

The host read out the music round answers too fast for me to write them all down, but here are some of the 'classics' that we didn't get:

Trouble - Coldplay
Frozen - Madonna
Best Song Ever - One Direction
Too Many Broken Hearts - Jason Donovan

Suffice it to say, out score (3) was embarrassing, but not THAT embarrassing.

Below are the answers:
1) Gordon Brown
2) Feet
3) 20th
4) Wiltshire
5) Jeff Stelling
6) 54
7) Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Gum

The excuses:
a) I was fairly certain that this building was the Sear's Tower, but One World Trade Centre must have been having a bad hair day.
Quiz info: One World Trade Centre is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. There are currently 3 taller buildings in the world, all in Asia.
b) I suggested the Shard as a possible answer but, as only the top portion of the building was shown, we ended up going with Taipei 101, which was not such a bad guess.
Quiz info: The Shard is the currently the tallest building in the European Union
c) We had no idea and we obviously should have done. The locations of the buildings seemed a little too US/European centric, so we went for a wild stab at the New Delhi railway building. As it turns out, this was a TERRIBLE guess, the two look absolutely nothing alike.
Quiz info: The V&A museum opened in 1852 and shares Exhibition Road in Kensington with the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum.
d) To be fair to us, the (black and white) picture was so dark it could have been any castle, and Edinburgh Castle was probably the best we could come up with.
Quiz info: Hogwarts was once voted the 36th best educational establishment in Scotland.

1) Absolute disaster! As a politics student, this was one of those ones where I just shouldn't have overthought it. The main problem here was past bad experience where Vince Cable was once given on a Redtooth quiz as a 'Leader' of the Liberal Democrats. This influenced my (bad) decision to opt for Deputy Leader Harriet Harman. Harman assumed Brown's roles when he stepped down months before a new leader was elected in 2010 . Sometimes too much knowledge is a bad thing.
Quiz info: Gordon Brown used to date the exiled Princess Margaret of Romania whilst studying at Edinburgh University.
2) Misheard this as 'pogonophobia' and went for 'beards', which on reflection, doesn't really count as a body part.
3) I had read the answer earlier on today, but couldn't dredge it up. We went for 17. Apparently it's the worst England have been rated since 1996.
4) Wipeout conditions forbade me putting down the correct answer just in case.
Quiz info: Porton Down was originally set up as the Royal Engineers Experimental Station in 1916 in order to research chemical weapons.
5) Ditto. Not that I've ever seen the programme but I knew he was a sports presenter from watching his last series of Countdown.
Quiz info: Stelling was succeeded as host of Countdown in 2012 by Nick Hewer.
6) Wouldn't have guessed the right one here. Being multiples of 3 made the choices a steer clear area.
Quiz info: The word 'Jenga' comes from the Swahili meaning 'to build'.
7) Have a feeling I knew this once upon a time, but forgot it due to it being fairly useless information. Until now, of course.
Quiz info: Bar codes were first implemented in 1974.

A disappointing score on the main quiz was followed by a pretty sub par score on the money round. We needed 13/15 to win anything, but this time we were miles off...

1) Which comic was first published in December 1937?
2) After how many games are the balls first changed in a tennis match?
3) At 22 years and 47 days who was the youngest person ever to captain the England football team?
4) What is the largest city in Asia?
5) Which U.S. state is the only state to commercially grow coffee plants?
6) Who drives a car with the registration plate JGY 280?
7) What is the most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust?
8) Which band with a female singer shares its name with Hitler's dog?

The answers:

1) The Dandy
2) 7
3) Bobby Moore
4) Shanghai
5) Hawaii
6) The Queen
7) Quartz
8) Blondie/Blondi

Excuses:
There is never much time to think in the final fling, but still some of these misfires were unforgivable.

1) Naturally, we went for the Beano, first published in July 1938. Ugh!
Quiz info: After its print run ended 75 years later, the 'Digital Dandy' was launched online, but this did not prove to be a success.
2) Tennis is the only sport I really watch, but I usually don't see the first set of any game.
Quiz info: The standard amount of games for a change of balls is 9, but the first change occurs after 7 because the balls are used in the warm up rallies before the game starts.
3) Knowing that Beckham was born in 1975, which would have meant he became captain at some point in 1997, we opted for him (which we thought was about right). Not so.
Quiz info: Moore was born in 1941, and succeeded Johnny Haynes as captain on 29th May 1963 on only his 12th appearance for England. England went on to beat Czechoslovakia 4-2.
(Beckham first became captain in November 2000.)
4) Tokyo has the largest metropolitan area in the world, but sadly that was not the question.
Quiz info: There are over 24 million people in the Shanghai municipality.
5) If a state is the only state to do something, it's usually Alaska or Hawaii. My bad.
Quiz info: If Puerto Rico eventually becomes a state Hawaii will no longer hold this distinction.
6) Apparently this is the number plate of the Rover she drives around her estate. Who knew?
Quiz info: The car is a 1971 Rover PB5 3.5 Litre V8 Saloon.
7) Just ugh!
Quiz info: According to Wikipedia, the actual answer appears to be feldspar.
8) Can't believe I forgot about Debbie Harry. I suppose she has to be out of our thoughts at some point during the day...
Quiz info: The German Shepherd was given to Hitler as a present from right-hand man Martin Boorman. Apparently Eva Braun hated her. (Was this because Blondi was Hitler's bitch?)

So there we go. Another week of disappointment, but you can almost guarantee I'll be back next time. I will try and do some fact checking on these tomorrow. Bye for now.

1950s, 60s and 70s Artists By their Breakthrough Hits

Always a useful piece of quizzing info to have in the arsenal, as first hits are generally the best known songs by an act after their #1 or #2 singles. Below is a list of artists by their first single to reach the Top 40 on the UK singles chart and the position it reached. This list only goes up to 1975, so it's full of oldies, but of course they're usually the best. I've tried to include as many genres as possible, but that does mean that it is very long...

Songs and artists in bold are my personal tips to remember, based on past experience.

1950s
1952
Vera Lynn: Auf Wiedersehn Sweetheart #12*
Louis Armstrong: Takes Two To Tango #6
1953
Perry Como: Don't Let the Stars Get In Your Eyes #1
Dean Martin: Kiss #5
1954
Frank Sinatra: Young At Heart #12
Petula Clark: The Little Shoemaker #7
Bill Haley and his Comets: Shake, Rattle and Roll #4
1955
Slim Whitman: Rose Marie #1
1956
Elvis Presley: Heartbreak Hotel #2
1957
Shirley Bassey: The Banana Boat Song #8
Everly Brothers: Bye Bye Love #6
The Crickets: That'll Be the Day #1
Chuck Berry: School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell) #24
Jackie Wilson: Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl In Town) #6
Andy Williams: Butterfly #1
Buddy Holly: Peggy Sue #6
1958
Cliff Richard: Move It #2
Johnny Mathis: Teacher Teacher #27
Duane Eddy (and the Rebels): Rebel Rouser #19
1959
Neil Sedaka: I Go Ape #9
Billy Fury: Maybe Tomorrow #18
The Drifters: Dance With Me #17
Adam Faith: What Do You Want? #1

1960s
1960
The Shadows (without Cliff): Apache #1
Roy Orbison: Only the Lonely (Know How I Feel) #1
Frank Ifield: Lucky Devil #22
Jim Reeves: He'll Have To Go #12
Ray Charles: Georgia On My Mind #24
Bobby Vee: Rubber Ball #4
Matt Monro: Portrait Of My Love #3
1961
Chubby Checker: Pony Time #27
Gene Pitney: (I Wanna) Love My Life Away #26
1962
Carole King: It Might As Well Rain Until September #3
The Four Seasons: Sherry #8
The Beatles: Love Me Do #17
1963
The Bachelors: Charmaine #6
Gerry and the Pacemakers: How Do You Do It? #1
The Hollies: (Ain't That) Just Like Me? #25
The Searchers: Sweets For My Sweet #1
Brian Poole and the Tremeloes: Twist and Shout #4
The Rolling Stones: Come On #21
The Tymes: So Much In Love #21
The Beach Boys: Surfin' U.S.A. #34
Dave Clark Five: Do You Love Me? #30
Cilla Black: Love Of the Loved #35
Dusty Springfield (solo): I Only Wanna Be With You #4
1964
Manfred Mann: 5-4-3-2-1 #5
Dionne Warwick: Walk On By #9
Lulu (and the Luvvers) Shout #7
The Animals: House Of the Rising Sun #1
The Kinks: You Really Got Me #1
Herman's Hermits: I'm Into Something Good #1
The Supremes: Where Did Our Love Go? #3
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas: Dancing In the Street #28
Sandie Shaw: (There's) Always Something There To Remind Me #1
Val Doonican: Walk Tall #3
Georgie Fame (and the Blue Flames) Yeh Yeh #1
The Moody Blues: Go Now! #1
1965
The Seekers: I'll Never Find Another You #1
Righteous Brothers: You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling #1
Tom Jones: It's Not Unusual #1
The Who: I Can't Explain #8
The Yardbirds: For Your Love #3
Bob Dylan: The Times They Are a-Changin': #9
Donovan: Catch the Wind: #4
Marianne Faithful: This Little Bird #6
Johnny Cash: It Ain't Me Babe #28
The Four Tops: I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) #23
The Byrds: Mr. Tambourine Man #1
The Walker Brothers: Love Her #20
Sonny and Cher: I Got You Babe #1
Small Faces: Watcha Gonna Do About It? #14
James Brown: Papa's Got a Brand New Bag #25
Wilson Pickett: In the Midnight Hour #12
Spencer Davis Group: Keep On Running #1
Otis Redding: My Girl #11
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass: Spanish Flea #3
1966
Barbra Streisand: Second Hand Rose #14
Stevie Wonder: Uptight (Everything's Alright) #14
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Hold Tight #4
Simon and Garfunkel: Homeward Bound #9
Lovin' Spoonful: Daydream #2
The Mamas and the Papas: California Dreamin'  #23
The Troggs: Wild Thing #2
Ike and Tina Turner: River Deep - Mountain High #3
Temptations: Ain't Too Proud To Beg #21
Cat Stevens: I Love My Dog #28
Junior Walker and the All-Stars: How Sweet It Is #22
Cream: Wrapping Paper #34
Jimmy Ruffin: What Becomes Of the Brokenhearted? #10
Miracles: Come Round Here (You're the One I Need) #37
Jimi Hendrix Experience: Hey Joe #6
1967
The Move: Night Of Fear #2
The Monkees: I'm a Believer #1
Engelbert Humperdinck: Release Me: #1
Marvin Gaye (with Kim Weston): It Takes Two #16
Pink Floyd: Arnold Layne #20
Sam and Dave: Soothe Me #35
Bee Gees: New York Mining Disaster 1941 #12
Procol Harum: A Whiter Shade Of Pale #1
Aretha Franklin: Respect #10
Gladys Knight and the Pips: Take Me In Your Arms and Love Me #13
Desmond Dekker (and the Aces): 007 (Shanty Town) #14
Amen Corner: Gin House #12
Jeff Beck: Tallyman #30
The Foundations: Baby, Now That I've Found You #1
1968
Status Quo: Pictures Of Matchstick Men #7
Fleetwood Mac: Black Magic Woman #37
T. Rex (as Tyrannosaurus Rex): Debora #34
Marmalade: Lovin' Things #6
Sly and the Family Stone: Dance To the Music #7
Johnny Nash: Hold Me Tight #5
Mary Hopkin: Those Were the Days #1
The Doors: Hello, I Love You #15
Joe Cocker: With a Little Help From My Friends #1
Isley Brothers: This Old Heart Of Mine #3
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band: I'm the Urban Spaceman #5
1969
Booker T and the MGs: Soul Limbo #30
Jethro Tull: Love Story #29
Glen Campbell: Wichita Lineman #7
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Proud Mary #8
The Plastic Ono Band: Give Peace a Chance #2
Fairport Convention: Si Tu Dois Partir #21
Crosby, Stills and Nash: Marrakesh Express #17
David Bowie: Space Oddity #5
Nilsson: Everybody's Talkin' #23
Kenny Rogers (and the First Edition): Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town #2
Roger Whittaker: Durham Town (The Leavin') #12
Blue Mink: Melting Pot #3

1970s
1970
Chicago: I'm a Man #8
Badfinger: Come and Get It #4
Jackson 5: I Want You Back #2
Brotherhood Of Man: United We Stand #10
Dana: All Kinds Of Everything #1
Ray Stevens: Everything Is Beautiful #6
Mungo Jerry: In the Summertime #1
Free: Alright Now #2
Joni Mitchell: Big Yellow Taxi #11
10cc (as Hotlegs): Neanderthal Man #2
Diana Ross (solo): Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand) #33
Bread: Make It With You #5
Three Dog Night: Mama Told Me Not To Come #3
Hot Chocolate: Love Is Life #6
Chairmen Of the Board: Give Me Just a Little More Time #3
Deep Purple: Black Night #2
Black Sabbath: Paranoid #4
Carpenters: (They Long To Be) Close To You #6
Melanie: Ruby Tuesday #9
T. Rex (as T. Rex) Ride a White Swan #2
Neil Diamond: Cracklin' Rosie #3
Gilbert O'Sullivan: Nothing Rhymed #8
The Spinners (as the Motown Spinners): It's a Shame #20
Dave Edmunds (Rockpile): I Hear You Knocking #1
1971
Tony Christie: Las Vegas #23
Dawn (with Tony Orlando): Candida #3
George Harrison (solo): My Sweet Lord #1
Elton John: Your Song #7
Atomic Rooster: Tomorrow Night #11
The Partridge Family: I Think I Love You #17
The Sweet: Funny Funny #13
Olivia Newton-John: If Not For You #7
Ringo Starr (solo): It Don't Come Easy #4
Slade: Get Down and Get With It #16
The New Seekers: Never Ending Song Of Love #2
Curtis Mayfield: Move On Up #12
James Taylor: You've Got a Friend #8
Rod Stewart: Maggie May/Reason To Believe: #1
The Chi-Lites: (For God's Sake) Give More Power To the People #32
Bay City Rollers: Keep On Dancing #9
Al Green: Tired Of Being Alone #4
1972
America: A Horse With No Name #3
The Faces: Stay With Me #6
Don McLean: American Pie #2
Michael Jackson (solo): Got To Be There #5
Paul Simon (solo): Mother and Child Reunion #5
Lindisfarne: Meet Me On the Corner #5
Wings: Give Ireland Back To the Irish #16
Neil Young: Heart Of Gold #10
David Cassidy (solo): Could It Be Forever/Cherish #2
The Osmonds: Down By the Lazy River #40
Roberta Flack: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face #14
Donny Osmond: Puppy Love #1
The Stylistics: Betcha By Golly Wow #13
Dr Hook (and the Medicine Show): Sylvia's Mother #2
Alice Cooper: School's Out #1
Electric Light Orchestra: 10538 Overture #9
Mott the Hoople: All the Young Dudes #3
Derek and the Dominoes: Layla #7
Roxy Music: Virginia Plain #4
Bill Withers: Lean On Me #18
Judge Dread: Big Six #11
10cc (as 10cc): Donna #2
The Strawbs: Lay Down #12
Wizzard: Ball Park Incident #6
Carly Simon: You're So Vain #3
Little Jimmy Osmond: Long Haired Lover From Liverpool #1
1973
Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes: If You Don't Know Me By Now #9
Thin Lizzy: Whiskey In the Jar #6
Billy Paul: Me and Mrs Jones #12
Mud: Crazy #12
Nazareth: Broken Down Angel #9
Lou Reed: Walk On the Wild Side #10
Suzi Quatro: Can the Can #1
Stealers Wheel: Stuck in the Middle With You #8
Barry White (solo): I'm Gonna Love You Just a Bit More Baby #23
Roy Wood (solo): Dear Elaine #18
David Essex: Rock On #3
Manfred Mann's Earth Band: Joybringer #9
Bryan Ferry (solo): A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall #10
Charles Aznavour: The Old Fashioned Way #38
Alvin Stardust: My Coo Ca Choo #2
Marie Osmond: Paper Roses #2
Kiki Dee: Amoureuse #13
Leo Sayer: The Show Must Go On #2
Steeleye Span: Gaudete #14
1974
The Wombles: Wombling Song #4
Lena Zavaroni: Ma! (He's Making Eyes At Me) #10
Paper Lace: Billy Don't Be a Hero #1
Smokey Robinson (solo) #35
Queen: Seven Seas Of Rhye #10
Doobie Brothers: Listen To the Music #29
Glitter Band: Angel Face #4
Genesis: I Know What I Like (In My Wardrobe) #21
The Three Degrees: Year Of Decision #13
ABBA: Waterloo #1
The Rubettes: Sugar Baby Love #1
Sparks: This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both Of Us #2
Cockney Rebel: Judy Teen #5
Showaddywaddy: Hey Rock and Roll #3
Bad Company: Can't Get Enough #15
George McCrae: Rock Your Baby #1
Mike Oldfield: Mike Oldfield's Single (Theme From Tubular Bells) #31
Eric Clapton (solo): I Shot the Sheriff #9
KC and the Sunshine Band: Queen Of Clubs #7
The Commodores: Machine Gun #20
Andy Fairweather Low (solo) Reggae Tune #10
Santana: Samba Pa Ti #27
Pilot: Magic #11
The Trammps: Zing Went the Strings Of My Heart #30
Ralph McTell: Streets Of London #2
Gloria Gaynor: Never Can Say Goodbye #2
1975
Frankie Valli (solo): My Eyes Adored You #5
Supertramp: Dreamer #13
Average White Band: Pick Up the Pieces #6
Barry Manilow: Mandy #11
Tammy Wynette: Stand By Your Man #1
Kraftwerk: Autobahn #11
Van McCoy: The Hustle #3
Sister Sledge: Mama Never Told Me #20
Smokie: If You Think You Know How To Love Me #3
Captain and Tennille: Love Will Keep Us Together #32
The Eagles: One Of These Nights #23
5000 Volts: I'm On Fire #4
Steely Dan: Do It Again #39
Art Garfunkel (solo) I Only Have Eyes For You #1
Bob Marley (and the Wailers): No Woman, No Cry #22
Demis Roussos: Happy To Be On An Island In the Sun #5

*Vera Lynn had already had a number of big hits to her name by this point, probably being the most bought artist in the country on several occasions. However, the UK official chart records only go back as far as 1952, so this is her first chart hit.

Best Picture Oscars (2010s)

I've been won round to the idea of producing a guide to film. The best place to start is probably with award ceremonies, so given that the Oscars are the most prestigious, that's where we'll begin. It is my aim to do the BAFTAs at some point down the line as well. I'm beginning with the most recent Best Picture winners with a view to going backwards through time.

*Note: The conclusions to these films are in the main pretty obvious, but there are minor spoilers in this article.
Bold = Won the Oscar, underlined = nominated

83rd Academy Awards - 2010/11
Winner: The King's Speech
Defeated: Inception, The Social Network, The Fighter, Toy Story 3, Black Swan, 127 Hours, True Grit, Winter's Bone, The Kids Are All Right

Synopsis: Albert, Duke of York (future King George VI) has a pronounced stammer that makes it difficult to perform his royal duties. His wife suggests that he sees speech therapist Lionel Logue in order to combat this and the film is centred on the relationship between the two men. When his brother Edward VIII abdicates, George VI becomes the new king shortly before the outbreak of World War II and is consequently required to address the nation over the airwaves at a critical point in the nation's history.
Setting: October 1925 - September 1939, United Kingdom (mainly London)
Screenplay: David Seidler (Length: 1 hour 58 mins)
Director: Tom Hooper
Starring: Colin Firth (King George VI), Geoffrey Rush (Lionel Logue), Helena Bonham Carter (Queen Elizabeth), Guy Pearce (King Edward VIII), Timothy Spall (Winston Churchill), Derek Jacobi (Archbishop Cosmo Lang), Jennifer Ehle (Myrtle Logue) Michael Gambon (King George V)
Music: Alexandre Desplat
Distributed by: Momentum Pictures (UK), The Weinstein Company (US)
Tagline: The nation awaits...
Also won: Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay
Total: 4/12
BAFTA Best Film: Yes
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Drama): No (The Social Network)
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant historical inaccuracies:  - The Duke of York made much faster progress with Logue than is shown in the film, opening the Australian Parliament without incident in 1927
- Stanley Baldwin did not resign over the issue of rearmament, instead retiring with his integrity intact, boosted by his effective handling of the abdication crisis
- Winston Churchill actually encouraged Edward VIII not to abdicate, quite at odds with the film
Trivia: - David Seidler also suffered with a stutter in his youth. He originally intended to write the film in the 1980s but the Queen Mother asked him not to until after her death
- Hugh Grant was Tom Hooper's preferred choice for George VI
- Ramona Marquez (best known as Karen in Outnumbered) plays the young Princess Margaret


84th Academy Awards - 2011/12
Winner: The Artist
Defeated: Hugo, The Iron Lady, The Help, Midnight in Paris, The Descendants, War Horse, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Moneyball, The Tree of Life

Synopsis: Silent film star George Valentin spots newcomer Peppy Miller and insists that Kinograph Studios hire her for their next film. As Peppy's career takes off, George's begins to decline as more films make the transition to become 'talkies'. Financially ruined after his latest outing flops during the Wall Street Crash, George's wife kicks him out. Setting fire to his collection of earlier films, George succumbs to the smoke, but his pet dog, Jack, runs for help. Peppy visits him in hospital and takes him into her home, convincing Kinograph Studios to cast them both in a new musical.
Setting: 1927 - 1932, Los Angeles, California
Screenplay: Michel Hazanavicius (Length: 1 hour 40 mins)
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin (George Valentin), Berenice Bejo (Peppy Miller), Uggie (Jack), John Goodman (Al Zimmer), James Cromwell (Clifton)
Music: Ludovic Bource
Distributed by: Warner Bros (France), Entertainment Film Distributors (UK), The Weinstein Company (US)
Tagline: None
Also won: Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design (Mark Bridges)
Total: 5/10
BAFTA Best Film: Yes
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): Yes
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant inaccuracies: None evident
Firsts: - First French film ever to win Best Picture
- First mainly silent film to win Best Picture since Wings (1927) in 1929
- First totally black and white film to win Best Picture since The Apartment (1960)
Trivia: - The director of the musical, Al Zimmer and George Valentin all have speaking roles at the end of the film. Valentin's 'With pleasure!' is the only audible sentence spoken on screen
- Director Michel Hazanavicius and actress Berenice Bejo are married
- It was actually filmed in colour and the black and white effect was added later
- Uggie the Jack Russell, who plays Jack, has his own memoir


85th Academy Awards - 2012/13
Winner: Argo
Defeated: Life of Pi, Les Miserables, Django Unchained, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty, Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Synopsis: During the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979, 6 U.S. Embassy staff manage to escape and are given refuge in the home of the Canadian Ambassador. CIA employee Tony Mendez hatches a plan to extract them, posing as a filmmaker with producer Lester Siegel, ostensibly looking for locations to shoot a new science fiction movie, Argo. Once in Iran, the exfiltration plan is fraught with difficulties, but eventually Mendez safely escorts the hostages onto a Swissair flight to Zurich and is awarded the Intelligence Star for his efforts.
Setting: November 1979 - January 1980, Tehran, Iran; USA (mainly Los Angeles)
Screenplay: Chris Terrio (Based on 'The Master of Disguise' by Antonio J. Mendez, 'The Great Escape' by Joshuah Bearman - Length: 2 hours)
Director: Ben Affleck
Starring: Ben Affleck (Tony Mendez), Bryan Cranston (Jack O'Donnell), Alan Arkin (Lester Siegel), John Goodman (John Chambers)
Music: Alexandre Desplat
Distributed by: Warner Bros.
Tagline: The movie was fake. The mission was real.
Also won: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing (William Goldenberg)
Total: 3/7
BAFTA Best Film: Yes
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Drama): Yes
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant historical inaccuracies:  - Alan Arkin's character Lester Siegel is made up for the film
- The role of Canada is significantly downplayed in the film. When interviewed, Jimmy Carter expressed the opinion that Ken Taylor was the 'main hero'
- The British and New Zealand embassies did not turn the escaped hostages away and actually provided them with necessary assistance
- President Carter did not attempt to cancel the mission at the last minute
- The dramatic chase scene at the end did not occur
Trivia: - Somewhat controversially, Affleck was not nominated for Best Director
- This is the second Best Picture film in a row to feature John Goodman


86th Academy Awards - 2013/14
Winner: 12 Years a Slave
Defeated: Gravity, Dallas Buyers Club, Her, American Hustle, The Wolf of Wall Street, Captain Phillips, Nebraska, Philomena
Synopsis: Solomon Northup is tricked into travelling from his home in New York to Washington D.C., where he is drugged, kidnapped and sent on a ship to New Orleans. After a scuffle with his first overseer, where he is nearly lynched, Solomon is sold to Edwin Epps, a man who believes that slavery is sanctioned by the Bible and who constantly abuses and rapes Solomon's fellow slave Patsey. Determined to escape, Solomon eventually convinces a Canadian labourer, Samuel Bass to deliver a letter to his wife and his freedom is finally restored.
Setting: 1841 - 1853, Various plantations in Louisiana; Saratoga Springs, New York
Screenplay: John Ridley (Based on 'Twelve Years a Slave' by Solomon Northup - Length: 2 hours, 14 mins)
Director: Steve McQueen
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor (Solomon Northup), Michael Fassbender (Edwin Epps), Benedict Cumberbatch (William Ford), Paul Dano (Tibeats), Paul Giamatti (Freeman), Lupita Nyong'o (Patsey), Sarah Paulson (Mistress Epps), Brad Pitt (Samuel Bass), Alfre Woodard (Mistress Shaw)
Music: Hans Zimmer
Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Pictures (U.S.), Entertainment One (U.K.)
Tagline: The extraordinary true story of Solomon Northup
Also won: Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay
Total: 3/9
BAFTA Best Film: Yes
Golden Globe Best Motion Picture (Drama): Yes
Box Office Success: Yes
Significant historical inaccuracies:  - The scene where a sailor stabs a slave to death did not happen
- Northup contracted smallpox on his voyage, resulting in permanent scarring to his face
Firsts: Steve McQueen is the first black director to have a film win Best Picture
Trivia: - McQueen won the Turner Prize in 1999 for his video 1997 short film Deadpan, based on a Buster Keaton stunt
- Michael Fassbender has appeared in all 3 of McQueen's feature films to date (Hunger, 2008; Shame, 2011)