The Quiz Part 5
Greetings, it is once again time for the annual quiz that takes place in November. This is the 5th quiz on the blog and like the previous entries it will have ten questions based mostly on the categories of books, films, television shows and games. The answers can be found at the bottom of the blog update.
1. What is the full title of the 2012 Hobbit film directed by peter Jackson?
2. Who said this- “Those of you helping us test the Repulsion Gel today, just follow the blue line on the floor. Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I've got some good news and some bad news. Bad news is we're postponing those tests indefinitely. Good news is we've got a much better test for you: fighting an army of mantis men. Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line. You'll know when the test starts.”
3. What do the initials of the Twin Peak’s character D.B. Cooper stand for?
4. What is the name of the actor who played Earl Hickey from My Name is Earl?
5. Who wrote the original James Bond novels?
6. How many seasons did the television show Friends have?
7. Name this character.
8. How many Indiana Jones films are there?
9. What is the name of the first book in the A song of Ice and Fire series?
10. What are the names of Homer and Marge’s children?
Spoilers
1. The Hobbit: An unexpected Journey
2. Cave Johnson
3. Dale Bartholomew
4. Jason Lee
5. Ian Fleming
6. 10
7. Gustavo Fring
8. 4
9. A Game of Thrones
10. Bart, Lisa and Maggie
Quote of the day
What do you know, the geek shall inherit the Earth
Paul
Paul
Monsters University
Greetings, Monsters University is a 2013 prequel to Pixar’s original 2001 film, Monsters Inc. It has retained most of its notable main cast such as Billy Crystal, John Goodman and Steve Buscemi reprising their roles as well as adding new members like Helen Mirren. While the film does not include or reference Boo, presumably because she wouldn’t have yet been born, it does elaborate on the relationship between Mike and Scully as well as setting the stage for Randall as a villain in Monster’s Inc. Some of the original characters also receive cameo roles towards the end of the film such as the slug like monster named Roz.
The plot begins with a very young Mike on a field trip to Monster’s Inc. While watching the scarers do their job he is inspired to grow up to be just like them, years pass and he begins to start his time at Monsters University. While he studies hard, Mike is held back by the fact that he isn’t frightening and this begins a rivalry with the slacking but naturally talented student, Scully, as they try to outcompete each other. Their contest disrupts the final exam and Dean Hardscrabble drops them both from the program because of it.
Mike attempts to prove his skills to the entire university by entering the scare games. He has to join the unprofessional team, Oozma Kappa, but reluctantly has to side with his opponent Scully if he wants to compete in the games. Therefore, in order to win Mike and Scully have to work together using their different skills as well as having to train with incompetent students. The different groups compete against each other in challenges with the main antagonists being the jock like students from Roar Omega Roar, which contains Mike’s old roommate and future enemy, Randall.
Monsters University was Pixar’s first prequel movie and it is one I enjoyed. It gave an interesting series of events by making the two protagonists rivals and set in motion the story line of Monsters Inc . In my opinion, the film does a good job of keeping true to the characters while giving them a history that doesn’t contradict their established personalities, especially since it has been over a decade since the original was made.
Plot=9/10
Characters=10/10
Animation=9/10
Overall=9/10
Quote of the day
I am the man with no name. Zapp Brannigan at your service.
Zapp Brannigan
Futurama
Misery (The Film)
Greetings, the 1990 film version of Misery was based on Stephen King’s 1987 novel with the same name. There are only a few main actors, namely James Caan as the famous writer Paul Sheldon and Kathy Bates as the mentally unstable nurse Annie Wilkes, who is strangely child like especially when upset, choosing strange words to express herself. Despite the fact there are a limited number of characters and the story is mostly constricted to one room, I still found it enjoyable as it was mostly devoted to watching Wilkes descend into a violent, obsessive individual. While I imagine the book would have created a greater tense atmosphere as well having a more developed background to the characters, the film did a good job for the amount of screen time it had.
The plot is fairly simple and begins with a severe blizzard occurring between Silver Creek in Colorado and Los Angeles. Paul Sheldon, the famous writer of the Misery novels, is unaware that a snow storm is kicking up as he is travelling in his car to get his latest book published. Due to the storm, Sheldon manages to crash his car in a remote area and is badly injured with both legs broken. Annie Wilkes, a fan of his who had been following him, manages to pry the author out of his car and brings him back to her nearby house.
At her home, Annie begins to treat the writer as it is revealed that she is a nurse. When Paul regains consciousness she claims that she is his number one fan. However, Sheldon soon realizes that Wilkes has no intention of freeing him, especially not after Paul had killed off her favourite fictional character from Misery. Wilkes forces the author to bring the character back to life in a new novel and claims that nobody is coming for him. As Annie’s unpleasant nature is discovered, Paul attempts to find a way to escape or if he has no other choice, to kill his obsessive number one fan.
I do believe some of the characters could have been better developed such as the old sheriff called Buster. While the sheriff does have an important role to play in finding out the whereabouts of Paul, he is more of a plot device than a character with an interesting personality. However, this is only a minor issue as the time dedicated to the protagonist and antagonist, as well as their uneasy relationship, is what really drives the story forward. It is an older film which lacks modern effects but none the less it provides the audience with some disturbing entertainment and is spurred on by the two main actors’ talents.
Plot=8/10
Characters=8/10
Special effects=7/10
Overall=8/10
Quote of the day
Well done. Here come the test results: "You are a horrible person." That's what it says: a horrible person. We weren't even testing for that.
GLaDOS
Portal 2
Portal 2
Greetings, Portal 2 is a 2011 video game and a sequel to the original Portal that was released in 2007. The single player campaign delves deeper into the lore of the Portal series by introducing new characters or expanding on individuals that are already established, creating new interactive elements that are required to complete tests such as repulsion or propulsion gel and creating a history for Aperture Science. The voice cast plays their roles excellently with Ellen McLain reprising her performance as the villainous AI GLaDOS, Stephen Merchant voices the moronic robot known as Wheatley and J.K Simmons takes on the role of Aperture's charismatic founder, Cave Johnson.
The plot is set an unspecified period of time after the events of the first Portal. GLaDOS has been killed and Chell had managed to leave briefly but was dragged back into the building at the end of the original game. It starts with Chell being awakened from her stasis room by Wheatley, who had discovered that she was still alive and supposedly the last remaining human in the facility. Once Wheatley introduces himself, he attempts to aid Chell in trying to escape once again from the test chambers. Chell is equipped with the portal gun to help her get around obstacles, but the only way to exit is going through the lair of the deactivated GLaDOS much to Wheatley's fear.
They accidentally reactivate her when they are in her territory. Once awake, a vengeful GLaDOS states to Chell that she had to relive through her final moments of being killed due to her black box and puts the silent protagonist back to completing test with the intent of murder. Wheatley continues to plan a way out as Chell buys time by solving the puzzles for the murderous AI. It is eventually decided that they could neutralize GLaDOS and allow Wheatley to take over the facility via the stalemate button.
It is a great game with a good use of puzzles, a nice atmospheric soundtrack and humour that is both witty as well as dark. The storyline itself is very entertaining and has an unexpected but interesting twist that drives a lot of the humour later on as the game progresses, often at the expense of Wheatley. I haven't yet played the co-op campaign but the single player is a great experience that keeps giving laughs,well hidden Easter eggs and secrets such Ratman's dens as well as interesting challenges from start to finish. It also had a brilliant ending that wrapped everything up nicely but unfortunately mean that there probably never will be a sequel,at least one that follows Chell.
Plot=10/10
Characters=10/10
Graphics=10/10
Overall=10/10
Quote of the day
Please note that we have added a consequence for failure. Any contact with the chamber floor will result in an "unsatisfactory" mark on your official testing record, followed by death. Good luck!
GLaDOS
Portal
Back to the Future: The Game
Greetings, Back to the Future: The Game was created by TellTale and is considered to be an official part of the original storyline, taking place after the events of the third film. Like other TellTale games such as Sam and Max, Back to the Future is a point a click episodic adventure with all storylines flowing into each other. Some of the original cast such as Christopher Lloyd and Michael J Fox return but Marty McFly is voiced by A.J. Locascio who gives a good performance in imitating a younger Fox. New characters are introduced with likes of Edna Strickland, an anti-delinquent activist, Marty’s grandfather Arthur, singer Trixie Trotter and Biff’s father, the gangster, Kid Tannen.
The story is predominantly set in Hill Valley during 1931 but does change periods and visits alternative timelines. In 1986, Doc Brown has been missing for several months and the bank begins to sell off his items. A concerned Marty is startled to find a time travelling DeLorean has made it back to the present time without any sign of Doc. McFly discovers that this vehicle is a duplicate of the original that was destroyed in 1885 and that Emmet had travelled to 1931. Brown has been incorrectly imprisoned in suspicion of burning down a speakeasy belonging to Kid during the prohibition era. Marty has to free Doc from prison before Emmet can be gunned down by Kid’s gangsters.
A lot of the story revolves around Brown’s past, with Marty attempting to get a young teenage Emmet to leave his family tradition of an occupation in law in exchange for science. Therefore setting in motion the events that would lead to the creation of the DeLorean time machine. The score suits the game nicely by incorporating pieces of the iconic themes from the movies while adding a fresh twist to some of them. It was composed by Jared Emerson-Johnson, who walked worked with TellTale before on other projects such as Sam and Max as well as the Walking dead.
While most of the puzzles are relatively straightforward that didn’t stop me from enjoying the experience which was similar to that of the trilogy in terms of humour and in keeping with the well developed characters, as well as the general essence of it. I also liked the cartoonish design that TellTale uses for its games, believing that it captured the appearance of Doc and Marty nicely. If you liked the films you might appreciate this and due to the high probability of a sequel, I look forward to what will happen next in the much loved series.
Plot=9/10
Characters=10/10
Graphics=8/10
Overall=9/10
Quote of the day
Vengeance? Ha! I was never one to hold grudges, Jeffrey. My father held grudges. I'll always hate him for that.
Pierce Hawthorne
Community
ParaNorman
Greetings, ParaNorman is a 2012 animated film mixing the elements of humour as well horror fit for family viewing. Despite attempting to be a family orientated movie, the themes and the story in general are reasonably darker as well as rather complex than the black and white scenario you would expect. Some of the more prominent cast members include John Goodman, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Bernard Hill. It was created by Laika, which is mostly known for the 2009 movie Caroline.
The plot is centred in a fictional Massachusetts town called Blithe Hollow. During the 1700s as the Puritans began to colonise the area and in their attempt to keep it holy, they executed a local who was charged with the crime witchcraft. Before the witch was killed she cursed those who judged her to walk the earth as the living dead. Most of the plot is set in the present day around Norman, the protagonist of the story, who has an obsessive interest in the deceased and the ability to interact with ghosts. Of course nobody believes that he has these powers which has lead to his ostracism from the town’s community and even emotional isolation from his family.
It isn’t long before Norman is contacted by his estranged uncle, who also has the same paranormal abilities and is the most recent generation of his family to ensure that the witch and the zombies never rise from their graves. The uncle, realizing that his own life span was about to end had to ensure that Norman would take over his duties of reading a book at the witch’s burial site and thus protect the town from the curse by preventing the witch from awakening. After his uncle’s death, Norman decides to believe him after the current visions he had been having and attempts to read the book. However, he is too late and the witches curse begins. Therefore Norman has to stop the spell with an ill prepared team consisting of his uncaring sister Courtney, his socially rejected friend Neil, Neil’s older brother Mitch and Norman’s bully, Alvin.
Overall, it is a really good film that actually contradicts well known tropes by flipping them against themselves and balances the humour and emotional scenes nicely. While it may not have the most notable cast, the actors and actresses certainly deliver their parts perfectly. I don’t recall ever watching another Laika film before this one, but I will keep an eye out for their latest projects and might watch Caroline at some time.
Plot=9/10
Characters=9/10
Animation=9/10
Overall=9/10
Quote of the day
It's ok to die Bats, I'll be here to protect Gotham! I'll do a real good job
Joker
Batman: Arkham City
