A Deep Dive Into Weirdo Cinema [23] Quiz

Answer: Malibu Express

And those twelve movies were the "Bullets, Bombs, and Babes" movies (Triple-B!), which featured exactly those things, often gratuitously spread across contrived plots that had its lead characters fighting back against drug or guns rings in hot locations. Oh yeah, and the babes? Most of them were "Playboy" playmates taking their first steps into the world of acting.

"Malibu Express" followed a private investigator on the hunt for criminals sending tech intel to the Russians and, naturally, the lovely ladies of Los Angeles helped him along the way. None of the characters or plot points from "Malibu Express" returned for the next film in the series, "Hard Ticket to Hawaii" (1987), which established a few recurring names and faces and, honestly, was the better film (and I mean this in the way that it's more entertainingly ludicrous).

Answer: I reject your reality and I substitute my own.

Charles Band would go on to create Full Moon Pictures (and the "Puppet Master" series) in 1988, but before this, he created films under the Empire Pictures banner, releasing much more than just schlocky horror titles. "The Dungeonmaster" was one such title, and boy was it a convoluted blend of sci-fi and fantasy.

In "The Dungeonmaster", a man and his girlfriend are pulled into a fantasy realm akin to a "Dungeons & Dragons" world (kinda) created by his high-tech computer creation, referred to as X-CaliBR8 (naturally). Both encounter a series of events that are very loosely connected, all of which were directed by different people and strung together to create the film as somewhat of an anthology culminating in a final battle against the evil Mestema (played by Richard Moll).

Notably, one of the vignettes was just a heavy metal performance by the rock band W.A.S.P.

Answer: Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds

Released back-to-back in 2017 and 2018 respectively, the "Along with the Gods" duology was based on an earlier webtoon which was, in turn, based on the teachings of early Buddhist texts as they related to Korean culture. The plot seems straightforward enough: a group of grim reapers are set to escort a recently-deceased individual through his trials in Hell to, hopefully, reincarnate himself and themselves. The second movie forces a hard pivot when the ending of the first doesn't head in the direction the characters are particularly aiming for.

"The Two Worlds", upon its release, became one of the top-grossing Korean films of all time, winning a number of awards in its home country. Both films, together, provide a unique and compelling fantasy experience, all said, and they're well worth the watch if only because of their extrapolation of this view of the afterlife. If you like a trip through Hell, you could do much worse.

Answer: La La Land

In a major Oscars gaffe, Best Picture presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were given the incorrect envelope and read off the Best Actress winner's film instead, leading the production team behind "La La Land" to head to the stage to claim the award and make the discovery in real time. he truth was that the award was actually determined to be for "Moonlight", which also took the statuettes for Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay that evening.

"La La Land" wasn't without its praise, however. The musical drama about two creative individuals looking to make it big in Los Angeles was directed by Damien Chazelle and did, otherwise, have a good night at the Oscars, as films about Hollywood dreams are wont to do. It took six Oscar wins including for Chazelle (as director) and Emma Stone (as Best Actress). Your mileage may vary based on your preferred film genres, but "La La Land" seems to hit with equal parts vibrant and dramatic turns.

Answer: Nigeria

International film industries can be quite fascinating, and you never know which movie might be the gateway to a whole subset of films that unlock new stories, niche actors, or recurring characters that you won't find anywhere else. The film industry of Nigeria, for instance, has historically a vibrant one despite not having Hollywood funds, often because its movies have varied so wildly depending on who's on either side of the camera. Nollywood films have always created established regional stars, but the general atmosphere of a Nigerian movie is reliant on a local flair due to the nation's ethnic diversity.

Nonetheless, whether cribbing concepts and idea off American films or building off elaborate soap opera-level dramatics, Nollywood films at the turn of the century were often low-budget and quick to make, with some stars, like Chiwetalu Agu, appearing in upwards of five hundred movies over the course of their careers.

Answer: The Angry Birds Movie

Notably, the original "Angry Birds" mobile game didn't have a comprehensive plot as it just asked players to slingshot different types of birds across the screen, aiming them at different buildings and targets as objectives. The characters, however, carry over from the game to the movie as you do encounter Red, Chuck, and Bomb and their unique traits in both.

The movie instead fills in the backstory behind the battle between the birds and the pigs, the former of whom just want to live in their island village and the latter of whom want to eat their eggs. Red, who is quite angry, proves to be a bit of a hero and cements his place amongst the others in the midst of this.

"The Angry Birds Movie" was successful enough to result in some sequels, all featuring Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, and Danny McBride in the lead roles. And as far as video game movies go, you could probably do a lot worse.

Answer: The Love Guru

This one is... not good. While Mike Myers was a comedic actor for the ages when he released the "Austin Powers" films and "Shrek" (amongst others) and was quite notable before that, coming out of "Saturday Night Live", "The Love Guru" appeared to be the consequence of unchecked power. Starring Myers as the Guru Pitka, the movie followed the character's effort to use his teachings (about love, obviously) to help a team win the Stanley Cup. And you may think... "well none of that sounds like it makes cohesive sense."

You'd be right. The movie was not well-received in the slightest, relying on the star power of Myers, Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, and (in one moment) a cameo from Mariska Hargitay herself, just to drive the joke into the ground. It would go on to win the Razzie for Worst Picture while Mike Myers would fade, quite distinctly, from filmmaking for the better part of a decade.

Answer: False

The original "Friday the 13th" released to theatres in 1980, three years before "Sleepaway Camp" tried its hand at something similar but different. Both movies were definitively slasher films at summer camps, and both would go on to have long-running franchises, but let's just say they took different routes.

"Sleepaway Camp" is quite the formulaic film, but where it makes up for its by-the-numbers dispatching of victims is in its humour and its final twist, which sees quite the graphic and gratuitous final reveal of its killer, done in a way that was shocking then and now. Modern viewers often cite it as not the greatest in the way of plot and structure, but it's a cult classic for how it presents itself, and at the very least it's a conversation starter for broaching taboo content. I won't spoil it for you.

Answer: San Andreas

Perhaps the title is the biggest hint here since it references the volatile San Andreas Fault, which wreaks havoc on everything from the Hoover Dam to Los Angeles to San Francisco in this neighbouring-state-spanning disaster film. The Rock, playing a L.A. helicopter pilot, is forced to contend with natural event after natural event while trying to save his family and everyone else he encounters, putting himself in harms way not only during cataclysmic earthquakes, but a tsunami that effectively wipes out most of the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge.

While The Rock took on a lot of family-friendly film roles at the start of the decade, he pivoted a fair bit into disaster films as, seemingly, a rule in the back half of the 2010s, not only taking a spot on the "Fast and the Furious" roster, but dodging action-disaster nonsense in "Skyscraper" (2018), "Rampage" (also 2018), and the rebooted "Jumanji" films. It must've worked; he became one of the highest-grossing actors of the decade.

Meanwhile, "San Andreas" was a high-grossing hit, all said and done, which is pretty typical for blockbuster disaster films of the era, even if it wasn't a hit with critics.

Answer: Alien

When the crew of the Nostromo is awakened from their stasis en route back to Earth and expected to investigate an emergency beacon on a nearby planet, they unexpectedly bring something back onboard with them and are forced to contend not only with the alien creature they've collected, but other nefarious elements onboard.

"Alien" is, ultimately, a sci-fi horror classic. With Ridley Scott at the helm, it also proved to be a star turn for Sigourney Weaver, who would go on to play the Ellen Ripley character in three sequels, kick-starting a franchise that would last for decades across films, TV shows, video games, novels, and comic books.

While the regular franchise would be handed to James Cameron and David Fincher for the next sequels, Ridley Scott would return to the universe for "Prometheus" and "Alien: Covenant", both prequel entries, in the 2010s.