Walter Matthau Matters Trivia Quiz

Based on Neil Simon's 1965 play, this film sees Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon as two recently divorced men pushed into sharing an apartment. The problem is that the two of them are like chalk and cheese. Oscar (Matthau) is loud, gregarious and a slob. Felix (Lemmon), on the other hand, is shy and a neat freak and, whilst they do enrich each other's lives, they also drive each other crazy.

This wasn't the pair's first venture together on screen. They'd previously worked in partnership on "The Fortune Cookie" (1966) and would go on to forge one of Hollywood's most successful on-screen pairings. In all, they were in ten films together. This does not include the 1971 film "Kotch", in which Matthau starred and Lemmon, who directed it, made a cameo appearance.

"The Odd Couple" proved to be a commercial success, becoming the third highest grossing film in the US that year. It also spawned a popular TV sitcom of the same name (1970-75) which featured Jack Klugman in Matthau's role as Oscar, and Tony Randall as Felix.

This 1963 Billy Wilder comedy is based on a 1956 French musical of the same name. Lemmon plays a naïve young policeman who is assigned to the red-light district in Paris. He organizes a raid on a brothel that disrupts a longstanding arrangement that the establishment had with the police and, at the same time, manages to incriminate his boss. Now jobless, he meets Irma (Shirley Maclaine), a prostitute, whom he falls for and wishes to change her ways by creating an alter ego of himself as her sole client. Unfortunately, his plan goes awry when he discards that persona and finds himself on the run for murder.

This was the fifth highest grossing film of that year and it reunited Lemmon and Wilder, who'd previously worked together on "Some Like it Hot" in 1959. Another star from that 1959 film, Marilyn Monroe, would have played the role of Irma had it not been for her tragic passing. The role proved to be a boon for Maclaine who would receive an Oscar nomination for her performance. Whilst she would lose out to Patricia Neal ("Hud") on that occasion, she did manage to secure a Golden Globe award.

After three unsuccessful Oscar acting nominations, Shirley Maclaine broke through for a win with a stunning performance as the widowed mother, Aurora Greenway, in this 1983 film. As well as being a box-office success, out-grossed in the US by only "Return of the Jedi", "Terms of Endearment" was also a critical success, garnering 11 Oscar nominations and winning five awards, including Best Picture.

Based on a Larry McMurty story the film focusses on a thirty year relationship between Maclaine's controlling Aurora and her daughter Emma (Debra Winger), who seeks to escape her mother's close attention and winds up marrying a college professor, Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels), out of spite. Debra Winger produces one of her finest on-screen performances as Emma, culminating in her second career Oscar nomination.

A love-hate relationship between "Bud" Davis (John Travolta) and Sissy (Debra Winger) is at the core of this 1980 James Bridges movie, a film that is often credited as one of the reasons for the mainstream revival of country music.

Bud is a country boy who moves to the city, gains a job in an oil refinery and has dreams of buying some land. He frequents a bar where he meets Sissy, falls in love and the pair soon marry. The bar also operates a mechanical bull which Bud enjoys but, when Sissy wishes to have a go, Bud forbids it and the cracks start to appear in their relationship.

Apart from a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) and two Golden Globe nominations, this film would open doors for Winger. Within the next three years she would be receiving Oscar nominations for her roles in "An Officer and a Gentleman" (1982) and "Terms of Endearment" (1983). Travolta, at this point, was already a huge star, coming off an Oscar nomination for "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) and the huge commercial hit that was "Grease" (1978).

"Face/Off" (1997), which has now developed quite a cult following thanks to its premise and stylized action sequences, is considered to be among director John Woo's finest moments. The story centres around Sean Archer (John Travolta), a tough FBI agent who has hunted down a powerful criminal in Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage). In the shoot-out that ensued Troy is knocked out to the point that he winds up in a coma, however, not before he's revealed to Archer that he'd planted a bomb that has the capacity to wipe out the city of Los Angeles. With Castor in a coma, the only person who knows the whereabouts of the bomb is Castor's brother Pollux (Alessandro Nivola) and he is not talking.

To get close to Pollux and gain his confidence Archer undergoes a revolutionary new surgery to have Castor Troy's face transplanted onto his own head and then arranges for himself to be placed in prison next to Pollux. Trouble surfaces when Castor awakens from his coma, demands to have Archer's face placed onto his own head and then kills off all the people that know about the identity switch. Castor now assumes Archer's identity, his job and his life, leaving the FBI agent to rot in jail.

Whilst the plot of this movie is often labelled as "absurd", Woo's inventive direction receives great praise and makes the film a rollicking ride that barely leaves you time to catch your breath. The performances of both Cage and Travolta were also noteworthy as the pair, not only have to change roles, they also have to try and imitate the other actor's quirks and mannerisms.

Using the title of a posthumously released Buddy Holly song (1959), the husband and wife team of Jerry Leichtling and Arlene Sarner have written this charming 1986 fantasy comedy that Francis Ford Coppola manages to direct with a subtle hand.

Kathleen Turner puts in an Oscar nominated performance as Peggy Sue Bodell, a woman who has separated from her cheating husband (played by Nicolas Cage), attending her high school's 25th reunion. At the event she collapses and awakens in 1960 where she has the opportunity to make alternate choices and the possibility to re-start her life anew. The question is, will she?

Danny DeVito, in this 1984 romantic comedy, is delightful as Ralph, a bumbling petty thief, who is desperately trying to get his hands on a treasure map. That map is currently in the hands of Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner), a romance novelist whose name is known far and wide, even in the deep jungles of Colombia, where she now finds herself. She is there looking to exchange the map for her sister who has been kidnapped by Ralph's supposed partner Ira (Zack Norman). Joan is helped along the way by Jack T. Colton (Michael Douglas), a roguish American bird-hunter who dreams of buying a yacht to sail around the world in. Initially it is opportunity and greed that keeps Jack on Joan's side but, eventually, he becomes romantically involved.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film was a box-office hit in 1984. The chemistry between DeVito, Turner and Douglas was such that a sequel was hastily put together in 1985, "The Jewel of the Nile" and the three would also feature in the 1989 dark comedy "The War of the Roses".

This 1992 film is Tim Burton's sequel to the 1989 hit "Batman". Michael Keaton reprises his role as Gotham City's Caped Crusader and, on this occasion, he's in conflict with two men who are both hungry for power and have little care for the effect it may have on Batman's city. The first of the two is a wealthy industrialist named Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) and the other is the mal-formed Oswald Cobblepot (Danny DeVito), who assumes the alter ego of the Penguin. Aside from the Batman, their plans are disrupted by Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfieffer), Shreck's former secretary that he'd attempted to murder by throwing her out of his top storey window. Kyle survives and then returns as Catwoman to seek her revenge.

Originally panned by viewers and, in particular, sponsors because it took the franchise into the dark side and away from the original's family friendly orientation, the movie is now seen by many critics as the best within the franchise. It also received glowing praise for its incarnations of both the Penguin and Catwoman, both of which are now considered iconic.

Michael Cimino's epic 1978 war drama centres on three steel mill workers, Mike Vronsky (Robert De Niro), Steven Pushkov (John Savage) and Nick Chevotarevich (Christopher Walken), who all have a passion for hunting deer. The three are very close friends who live in a tight-knit community but their lives are disrupted when they're sent off to fight in the Vietnam War. They return home after enduring a series of horrors during the campaign, including a harrowing game of Russian Roulette, to find that they're struggling to assimilate themselves into their former lives.

The film is seen by many as one of the finest movies ever created, receiving tremendous praise for its realistic themes, its direction and the high class work of its cast. It received nine Academy Award nominations and won five awards, including Best Picture and a, well deserved, gong to Christopher Walken as Best Supporting Actor.

Armed with David Mamet's powerful script, Brian De Palma delivers a classic 1987 American crime drama, that is supported by an elegant and hard-working cast.

Set in 1930s Chicago, where Al Capone rules the underworld, the story follows the trials of Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) as he puts together a team of lawmen who won't be swayed by bribes or fear... in short, they're "untouchable". Their mission is to bring down Capone (Robert De Niro) whilst fending off the malignant corruption that has infested the police force. Assisting Ness are trainee lawman George Stone (Andy Garcia), an accountant named Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith) and a tough Irish street cop by the name of Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery, in an Academy Award winning performance).

Kurt Russell is Michael Zane in this 2001 drama. Recently released from prison he comes across Cybil (Courtney Cox), a single mother, whom he seduces. The following day he and three other men, all dressed as Elvis Presley impersonators, steal $3.2 million from a Las Vegas casino in the midst of an Elvis impersonators convention. Despite one of the team members getting killed during the robbery, the team manages to get away with the loot. That's when Thomas Murphy (Kevin Costner) gets greedy and decides to shoot his partners. What he doesn't count on are (a) getting knocked out after his car hits a coyote and crashes (b) that Michael had taken the precaution of wearing a bullet-proof vest and (c) that single mum Cybil and her son would steal his ill-gotten gains. The story reaches a climax as the two men converge on the money launderer that Cybil is headed to.

Sadly, the film won't go down as one of Kurt and Kevin's finer moments. The audience made sure they were aware of this by staying away from it.

Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) has successfully cleaned up Dodge City and moves to Tombstone, Arizona for two reasons... to get rich and then fade into obscurity. He is joined in Arizona by his brothers and Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer). Unfortunately, all is not well in the state of Arizona, in particular, the town of Tombstone. A gang calling itself the Cowboys is causing all forms of trouble and their ultimate confrontation with both the Earps and Doc Holliday is inevitable.

This 1993 film, which was a financial success and has continued to develop a strong cult following, is loosely based on the events around Wyatt Earp during the 1880s and it includes the, now famous, gunfight at the OK Corral. Val Kilmer delivers one of his most inspired performances as the tuberculosis stricken Holliday.

After reading a biography of the famed artist Jackson Pollock, the making of this 2000 movie became a personal mission for Ed Harris. Not only does he star as the troubled artist, he also directs this movie.

The film follows Jackson during the 1940s, a period during which the abstract expressionist had been diagnosed as being "clinically neurotic", had only been exhibiting his work spasmodically at small art shows and was battling his demons with alcohol. He meets fellow artist Lee Krasner (Marcia Gay Harding, in an Oscar winning performance), who introduces him to some wealthy patrons prepared to promote his work. The pair soon marry but their partnership is a fractured one. Success soon arrives for Pollock but so too does a brutal and destructive end.

Val Kilmer appears in this film as Willem de Kooning, a gifted Dutch-American expressionist who becomes a part of Pollock's "New York School" group.

Susan Sarandon is Jackie, raising two children that resulted from her former marriage to Luke (Ed Harris), whilst trying to deal with the fact that her ex-husband is now firmly entrenched in a relationship with Isabel (Julia Roberts), a successful professional photographer. The cultures of these two women are poles apart - Jackie, a stay-at-home mum who is fully committed to looking after her children versus Isabel who is focused on her career and finds it difficult to find balance when it's Luke's turn with the children. This conflict deepens when Jackie is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Directed by Chris Columbus, best known for his early work in both the "Harry Potter" and "Home Alone" franchises, this 1998 film received mixed reviews but still managed to become a box-office winner. Its returns exceeded budget by over $100 million and it earned Susan Sarandon a Golden Globe nomination.

Suzette (Goldie Hawn) and Vinnie (Susan Sarandon) were the best of friends, a pair of party animals and infamous groupies. They were christened the "Banger Sisters" because of their propensity to sleep with any rock musician that happened to pass through their section of Los Angeles.

Jump forward, and the women have gone their separate ways and have not seen each other in almost twenty years. Suzette is still maintaining the lifestyle but she suddenly finds herself on the wrong side of middle age with no job, no money and no future. Vinnie, now reverted to her birthname Lavinia, is married to a lawyer with political aspirations, has two teenaged daughters and is living comfortably... that is, until Suzette appears at her front door.

Released in 2002 by Fox Searchlight, the film was a huge success for the studio, becoming its greatest theatrical release, a position it maintained for almost seventeen years. It also marked the directional debut for Bob Dolman and it would be Goldie Hawn's final movie for almost fifteen years.