Test your Academy Awards knowledge
After grappling with racial injustice, misogyny and dozens of other hot-button issues, are Hollywood’s elites returning to family themes to entice movie fans?
It sure seemed that way as we researched this year’s annual Oscar Quiz ahead of the March 27 Academy Awards telecast. It turns out that most of the Best Picture and acting nominees involve themes about struggling families.
We’re treated to unconventional child-rearing lessons in “King Richard,” “The Lost Daughter” and “Parallel Mothers.” We see the traumatic aftermath of marital infidelity in “Drive My Car” and “Being the Ricardos.” We watch young people grow up in chaos in “Belfast,” “Dune,” “CODA,” “Licorice Pizza” and “West Side Story.” And the murderous rage in “Nightmare Alley,” “The Power of the Dog” and “The Tragedy of Macbeth” make the television version of despicable family conflicts on HBO’s “Succession” almost seem normal by comparison.
None of these dynamics is new, of course. (If you want something new, consider “Don’t Look Up,” whose theme — apathy in the face of disaster — is probably more troubling than those found in its rivals for Best Picture this year.) Our quiz sticks to old-fashioned family vices and virtues. “Nightmare Alley,” after all, is a remake, as are “Dune” and “West Side Story” — a factor covered in our quiz.
Indeed, all our 10 multiple-choice questions link this year’s nominations to past winners. Like the current crop of Hollywood’s finest, these questions focus mainly on families, including some historical oddities, some similarities, and some familiar names like Ricardo, Arnaz, Williams, Spencer and Macbeth, plus several fictional pairings along with a few of the nonfiction couples who portray them.
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1. Winning couples: Best Actor and Best Actress awards
Nominations aren’t usually conferred for playing married couples, but three cinematic pairings this year suggest that marriage might be the key to Oscar gold in three Best Picture nominees.
For “King Richard,” Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis were cited for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress consideration for playing the parents of tennis champs Venus and Serena Williams. “Belfast,” a war film, features Ciaran Hinds and Judi Dench in supporting roles as grandparents. And Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst also received supporting nominations for playing newlyweds in “The Power of the Dog.”
The question is: Do couples ever win? See for yourself. Which of the following films yielded both Best Actor and Best Actress wins for actors playing husband and wife in an Oscar-winning Best Picture?
A. “The Artist”
B. “It Happened One Night”
C. “On Golden Pond”
D. “Kramer vs. Kramer”
E. None of the above
F. All of the above
2. Off-screen couples
It doesn’t happen much, but married or engaged actors occasionally get nominated for playing married characters — either in the same movie or in two different films. There are two such pairings among this year’s nominees: Plemons and Dunst for “Power of the Dog,” as well as Javier Bardem, for Best Actor in “Being the Ricardos,” and Penelope Cruz for Best Actress in “Parallel Mothers.”
Does either the nominated wife or the husband sometimes walk off with an Oscar? Sure. Which one of the following couples were the last to pull off a win?
A. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor
B. John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands
C. Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander
D. Rex Harrison and Rachel Roberts
E. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
F. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie
3. Remaking a Best Picture winner
If the producers of “Dune,” “Nightmare Alley” or “West Side Story” pick up the Best Picture Oscar this year, it won’t be the first time a remake of an earlier Oscar-era film won the top award. Which of these previous Best Pictures is considered a remake?
A. “Chicago”
B. “Ben-Hur”
C. “The Departed”
D. “Marty”
E. “Titanic”
F. All of the above
4. Twice is the charm for Supporting Actress Oscar?
If Ariana DeBose wins the Supporting Actress Oscar for playing Anita in “West Side Story” — the same role played by Rita Moreno in the 1961 Best Picture — it will mark only the second time an Academy Award went to a performer for reprising a role that garnered an earlier Oscar. Who is the only performer to achieve this feat?
A. Bing Crosby
B. Bette Davis
C. Paul Newman
D. Harold Russell
E. Spencer Tracy
F. None of the above
5. Also twice …
Two players have received nominations — Olivia Colman as Best Actress, and Jessie Buckley as Best Supporting Actress — for the same role in “The Lost Daughter.” Although rare, sharing a nominated character in a film with another actor is hardly unprecedented. Which one of this year’s remaining six acting nominees received a previous nomination for portraying the same character as another actor in the same film?
A. Kenneth Branagh
B. Penelope Cruz
C. Judi Dench
D. J.K. Simmons
E. Will Smith
F. Denzel Washington
6. Twice again
It’s also rare that the same film receives nominations for both Best Picture and Best International Feature Film, a distinction that’s been given this year to the Japanese film “Drive My Car.” Which of the following Oscar nominees of the past managed this feat?
A. “The Artist”
B. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”
C. “La Dolce Vita”
D. “Life is Beautiful”
E. “Parasite”
F. “Z”
7. Common ground
As Oscar nominees this year, four actors — Penelope Cruz, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kristen Stewart — obviously have something in common. But what common ground do all of them share with past Academy Award winners, especially the four double-Oscar recipients Jessica Lange, Spencer Tracy, Barbra Streisand and Peter Ustinov?
A. All eight have played historical figures during their careers.
B. All have appeared in movies with multiple Oscar winners.
C. All have never appeared in a movie that won a Best Picture Oscar.
D. All were born in April.
E. All of the above
F. None of the above
8. Dying to win
If Denzel Washington takes home the Best Actor Oscar for “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” he’ll be the only actor to win three Academy Awards for performances that include the deaths of their characters. Like Washington in “Glory” (1990) and “Training Day” (2001), which of these actors won two Oscars for playing characters who die by the end of each film?
A. Bette Davis
B. Sean Penn
C. Anthony Quinn
D. Hilary Swank
E. All of the above
F. None of the above
9. Winning ‘athletes’
Although “King Richard” is the first film featuring tennis to be nominated for Best Picture, it would not be the first sports film to win the top award. Which of these movies was the first?
A. “Chariots of Fire”
B. “The Fighter”
C. “Million Dollar Baby”
D. “Pride of the Yankees”
E. “Raging Bull”
F. “Rocky”
10. Unexpected advantage?
It’s not surprising that Troy Kotsur is considered by many to be a leading candidate to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for portraying a deaf father in “CODA.” The record shows that actors playing disabled or severely ill characters generally win statuettes. But there are exceptions. Which one of the following Academy Award winners did not win an Oscar after being nominated for portraying a character with a disability or serious illness?
A. Robert De Niro
B. Tom Hanks
C. Daniel Day-Lewis
D. Marlee Matlin
E. John Mills
F. Jane Wyman
Answers
1. B. In “It Happened One Night,” which received the Best Picture trophy in 1935, the characters played by Oscar winners Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert were unmarried until the very end of the film, when they finally tie the knot. Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep also earned Academy Awards for “Kramer vs. Kramer,” the 1980 winner, but Streep’s win was in support, not for Best Actress. “On Golden Pond” did not win the Best Picture Oscar in 1982, although Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn gained Best Actor and Actress statuettes for playing husband and wife.
2. C. Michael Fassbender lost the Best Actor Oscar for playing the title character in “Steve Jobs” at the awards ceremony in 2016, the same year that Alicia Vikander, his wife, won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “The Danish Girl.”
3. C. Martin Scorcese’s “The Departed,” which won the 2007 Best Picture Oscar, is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film “Infernal Affairs.” Film critics generally do not consider “Titanic,” the 1998 Best Picture, to be a remake of the 1953 movie of the same name, mainly because of a substantial script rewrite. The same can be said for “Chicago,” a severe reworking of “Roxie Hart,” a 1942 film. A case can be made, though, for classifying “Marty,” the 1955 Best Picture,” as a remake, although the 1953 version was televised. But “Ben-Hur,” the 1960 Best Picture winner, is clearly a remake of the 1925 silent movie, “Ben-Hur, A Tale of the Christ,” even though it was released four years before the first Oscars were awarded. Although “The Departed” is the clearest winner here, give yourself credit for picking any of the six selections.
4. F. None of the above. Robert De Niro won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar at the 1975 ceremony for portraying young Vito Corleone in “The Godfather Part II,” the same role — as the older Vito — that won Marlon Brando the Best Actor Oscar in 1973 for “The Godfather.”
5. C. Judi Dench was nominated in support in 2002 for portraying the older version of the title character in “Iris.” Kate Winslet was the Best Actress nominee for playing young Iris. It marked the second time Winslet achieved this distinction. She was nominated for Best Actress as one of two actresses to portray Rose DeWitt Bukater in “Titanic,” the 1998 Best Picture. Gloria Stuart was nominated in support. None of these performances yielded Oscars.
6. E. “Parasite,” a South Korean film, won both Oscars at the 2020 ceremony.
7. E. All of the above
8. D. Hilary Swank won Best Actress Oscars for playing characters whose deaths occur in two movies: “Boys Don’t Cry” in 2000 and “Million Dollar Baby” in 2005. Each of the characters played by Melvyn Douglas also die in his two Oscar-winning supporting roles, for “Hud” in 1964 and “Being There” in 1980.
9. F. “Rocky” won three Oscars at the 1977 awards ceremony, including Best Picture. “The Fighter,” “Pride of the Yankees” and “Raging Bull” all won Oscars but not for Best Picture.
10. A. In “Awakenings,” Robert DeNiro was nominated for playing a catatonic patient whose successful treatment tragically proves temporary. But the Best Actor Oscar in 1991 went to Jeremy Irons, an English actor, for portraying accused murderer Claus von Bulow in “Reversal of Fortune.” De Niro fans might think British karma kept their favorite from winning his third Academy Award. Ten years earlier, his Best Actor Oscar for portraying boxer Jake LaMotta in “Raging Bull” came at the expense of John Hurt, the English actor, who was nominated for playing the grotesquely deformed John Merrick in “Elephant Man.”
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