Very Nearly True Trivia Quiz

Answer: Trumbo

In an Oscar-nominated performance, Bryan Cranston appears as screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who is blacklisted for supposed ties to Communism during the witch hunts of the McCarthy era in 1940s and '50s Hollywood. Despite a stint in jail, Trumbo continues to write using a pseudonym and even wins Oscars for his work while barred from the Screenwriters' Guild.

"Trumbo" (2015) makes use of archival footage of movies such as "Spartacus", the 1960 movie for which Kirk Douglas insisted on crediting Trumbo as writer, helping to break the power of the blacklist. It is fascinating to watch Dean O'Gorman, as Douglas, participating in a gladiatorial duel with Woody Strode in a seamlessly spliced sequence.

Answer: Lion

Five year old Saroo (Sunny Pawar) becomes separated from his brother, and falls asleep on a train. When he wakes up is is many miles away from home, in the frighteningly large city of Calcutta. Eventually he is adopted by an Australian family, the Brierleys (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham), who later adopt another boy from India. The two boys grow up as Australians, but Saroo, now played by Dev Patel, feels the need to try to find his mother and brother who he left behind. The Brierleys are supportive and he eventually learns what has happened to his original family in his absence.

Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman both give Oscar-nominated performances, and the real Saroo Brierley is credited as one of the writers of "Lion" (2016).

Answer: Eddie the Eagle

"Eddie the Eagle" (2016) is about Michael "Eddie" Edwards (Taron Egerton) who decides he wants to be a ski jumper and participate for Great Britain in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. The only problem is that he has never been on a ski jumping hill, doesn't know how to go about either jumping or landing safely, and isn't encouraged by the British Olympic team in his efforts. The movie gives him a fictional coach named Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman), who is initially reluctant but later enthusiastically helps Eddie to reach Calgary.

The movie is a feel-good "succeeding against the odds" type of sports movie, but the truth is Eddie finished last in every event he entered in Calgary, as the movie acknowledges. His success was in participating without seriously injuring himself.

Answer: The Imitation Game

"The Imitation Game" (2014) is largely a biography of the brilliant mathematician Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), who along with his fellow code breakers and computing pioneers at Bletchley Park are concerned with breaking the Enigma code and helping the Allies win World War Two. After the war Turing is driven to commit suicide, due to the prevailing attitudes toward homosexuality in the 1950s.

Cumberbatch's portrayal of Turing is Oscar-nominated, as is Keira Knightley's supporting role of Joan Clarke. Graham Moore wins an Oscar for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay.

Answer: Hidden Figures

"Hidden Figures" (2016) tells the long-neglected story of three African-American female mathematicians, known as "human computers" who are instrumental in getting astronaut John Glenn safely into orbit (and home again) and other aspects of the Mercury program at NASA in the 1960s. Most of their male, white colleagues are reluctant to believe the women can do the job, but the ladies prove them wrong.

Taraji P. Henson plays Katherine G. Johnson, Janelle Monae is Mary Jackson, and Octavia Spencer is nominated for a Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Dorothy Vaughan.

Answer: Rush

Ron Howard is the director of "Rush" (2013) which explores the rivalry between British driver James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Austrian Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) during the 1970s, when driving an F1 car is a dangerous job. Lauda's near-fatal fiery accident at the Nurburgring in 1976 is depicted, as is his recovery and return to racing that same season. Hunt is champion that year, defeating reigning champ Lauda. Not shown in the movie are Lauda's two subsequent championships.

The movie is nominated for a Golden Globe, as is Bruhl, but something to see if you can find it is Chris Hemsworth and the REAL Niki Lauda at the Golden Globes ceremony, introducing a clip of the movie. Niki actually jokes about his burn scars!

Answer: Patriots Day

The terrorist bombing near the finish line of the 2013 Boston marathon, and the hunt for the perpetrators is the subject of "Patriots Day" (2016). Mark Wahlberg plays a Boston policeman who is present near the finish line when the bombs go off, and also takes part in the manhunt for the Tsarnaev brothers (Alex Wolff and Themo Melikidze). The cast includes Kevin Bacon, J.K. Simmons, John Goodman and Michelle Monaghan.

An interesting award for this movie is that won by Jimmy O. Yang for Best Performance by an Asian Not Asked to Use an Accent from the All Def Movie Awards. Yang plays Dun Meng, a young man who was carjacked by the bombers, who managed to escape from them and provide assistance to the authorities.

Answer: Sully

Tom Hanks plays pilot Chesley Sullenberger, the title character of "Sully" (2016) who is remembered for landing his airliner on the Hudson River in New York, after it is damaged by birdstrike. So successful is the landing that there are no casualties, and all passengers and crew are quickly plucked from the wings of the floating aircraft. The movie goes beyond the landing and rescue to look at the investigation that follows, to determine if the ditching was truly necessary. Sully's state of mind after the incident is also explored.

Clint Eastwood directs, and the cast also includes Aaron Eckhart (as First Officer Jeff Skiles) and Laura Linney (as Lorrie Sullenberger).

Answer: Deepwater Horizon

"Deepwater Horizon" (2016) is about the explosion aboard the BP oil drilling rig of that name in 2010, that resulted in one of the most disastrous oil spills ever in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the deaths of a number of workers on the rig. The movie concerns itself mostly with the workers, and the struggle of survivors of the explosion to escape from a still dangerous situation.

Mark Wahlberg and Kurt Russell play two of those men, and we follow them as they try to make their way to safety. The cast also includes John Malkovich, Ethan Suplee and Kate Hudson.

Answer: The 33

"The 33" (2015) is the story of thirty-three Chilean miners who are trapped underground when a cave in occurs in their copper-gold mine in the Atacama Desert in August 2010. The movie follows both the plight of the miners and the efforts of those on the surface to bring them out of the mine alive, a task which takes over two months.

Antonio Banderas and Lou Diamond Phillips play two of the trapped miners, and James Brolin appears as Jeff Hart, an American drilling expert brought in to help with the rescue.