Hopelessly Devoted to (killing) You Quiz

Answer: Coriolanus Snow

In this sci-fi dystopian movie, first released in 2012, Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen) must represent District 12 in the hunt-and-kill competition overseen by the ruthless and oppressive President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland), dictator of Panem. While Katniss joined the games to protect her younger sister, some competitors relish the opportunity to track and kill humans.

"Battle Royale" (2000) also pits young people against one another, with Kazuo Kiriyama (Masanobu Ando) as a silent psychopath, one of three antagonists.

Photo hint: while the wrong answers are all creepy villains, only Snow is a president.

Answer: Vera Farmiga

In the 2018 film, "The Commuter" ex-cop Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson) is on his daily train commute when he is tricked into participating in a murder conspiracy by the alluring and mysterious Joanna (Vera Farmiga). She offers him a "hypothetical" initial $25,000 if he'll locate a particular passenger for her. Then she her crew relentlessly kill people off, always a step ahead of MacCauley as he desperately tries to comprehend what's happening. Jaume Collet-Serra, who has four previous collaborations with Neeson, directs. Photo hint: MacCauley finds the $25,000 he was offered, like the bundle in this bag, but when he tries to leave the train with it his wife is threatened.

The plot is similar to Neeson's action thriller "Non-Stop" (2014), set aboard a plane. In "The Grey" (2011) it's wolves that devotedly hunt down Neeson. If you enjoy a terrified protagonist frantically trying to outwit dedicated and methodical killers, "Red-Eye" (2005), "Flightplan" (2005), and also "Panic Room" (2002) starring Jodie Foster are entertaining.

Answer: The Hitcher

Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) picks up a hitchhiker (Rutger Hauer as John Ryder) in "The Hitcher" (1986). "I want you to stop me", the psychopathic Ryder tells Jim, who escapes, but then encounters Ryder over and over in a nightmarish trap, unable to save Ryder's newest victims.

Apparently there was effort to make this film less "gross". The killer put an eyeball in Jim's food, for instance, and they changed it to a finger. It's still a slasher film. There was a sequel (2003), and a remake (2007), though both film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel were Thumbs Down. It was also criticized for too closely resembling Stephen King's "Duel". I included it here because the plot--a diabolical killer who one-by-one kills victims physically close to his prey--is fascinating.

Photo hint: It's a big thumb. To evoke hitchhiking.

Answer: Legal crime

"The Purge" is a series of dystopian action movies first released in 2013, credited to James DeMonaco. In the "near-future" (actually 2017) a new totalitarian government Chief of Staff named Arlo Sabian (Patch Darragh) uses devious means to incite extremists to mass chaos, executes his enemy during the diversion, and then establishes an annual 12-hour national holiday called the Purge. All crime is legal during this event, including murder, though certain government officials have immunity. Many attempt to survive the Purge by hiding behind elaborate locked doors.

The next film, "The Purge: Election Year" (2016) is set 20 years later. Now ranking officials do NOT have immunity, because the government wants to encourage assassination of a Presidential candidate who opposes the Purge. Tourism is up, the economy is strong, crime rates are low 364 days of the year. But March 21st is a day of deadly hide-and-go-seek, when everyone you meet may be a villain devoted to taking your life.

"The Purge" premiered on US TV in 2018. Photo hint: a questionably sturdy door with double locks.

Answer: Will Smith

In "Enemy of the State" (1998) Will Smith plays Robert "Bobby" Dean, with Gene Hackman and Regina King starring. When an incriminating tape lands in Dean's possession, Dean is targeted by a corrupt and murderous National Security Agent Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight), a proponent of greatly expanded citizen surveillance. As Dean struggles to evade Reynold's power to destroy and threaten his life, ethical forces try to intervene. Photo hint: iron "smith" at work.

The real-life NSA was "appalled" by the negative portrayal of the Agency in this 1998 film, though in 2013 real-life and massive surveillance violations of citizen privacy were uncovered, due to the whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

Answer: Hit man

Based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy, "No Country for Old Men" (2007) features a chilling, Texas assassin called Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) who is absolutely devoted to tracking Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) to retrieve a bag of drug money Moss found and took. Chigurh makes his victims choose their own fate with the flip of a quarter.

Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) tries to track Chigurh, save Moss and protect Moss's wife, but finds himself hopelessly outwitted and worn down. In this award-winning Joel and Ethan Coen film the traditional Western "good-guy wins, villain punished and pretty girl rescued" is turned on its head.

The film won an incredible 76 awards. Photo hint suggests someone asking, "Call it. Heads, or tails?"

Answer: Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)

Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" astonished audiences in 1968, featuring HAL 9000 (Heuristically Programmed ALgorithmic Computer), an artificial intelligence computer in charge of protecting the astronauts and controlling the systems of the Discovery One spaceship.

But something goes terribly wrong. After HAL mentions discomfort with a secret, and is wrong about an antenna, the crew discuss disconnecting him, so HAL kills all but one. Many surmise that HAL malfunctioned because he's been programmed with two opposite orders. He has a secret about the real reason for the mission; and he is never to lie to the crew. These orders can't both be followed, so HAL loses his marbles, impossibly devoted to each conflicting order.

HAL fails to kill Dave, who finally finds a way to disconnect him. As he does, HAL sings "Daisy Bell" to Dave, in a sluggish, weird way--some suggest it's like he's dying, as well as expressing affection. "Daisy Bell" was in fact the first song ever sung in computerized speech, by an IBM 7094 mainframe. HAL was voiced by Canadian Douglas Rain, after Rain presented an "eerily calm" and bland voice Kubrick thought was perfect. Kubrick had Rain sing "Daisy Bell" around 50 different ways, until they found the right horrific tone. Photo hint: a bicycle, built for two.

Answer: Collateral

Michael Mann directed "Collateral" (2004), starring Jamie Foxx as Max Durocher, a cab driver whose customer offers him $600 for the night. Soon dead bodies are involved, and Max learns his ride is Vincent (Tom Cruise) a chilling hit man devoted to knocking off everyone on a list of targets. He traps the hopeless Max in his scheme.

The studio refused to cast the aging Robert De Niro as Max, and Adam Sandler had to drop out, leaving Foxx to earn several Best Supporting Actor and Outstanding Performance nominations. Our contract killer, Tom Cruise, won a Saturn "Best Actor" award and was nominated by MTV for "Best Villain". Photo hint: damage, as in collateral damage, a military euphemism for harm to unintended targets, such as innocent bystanders. Also the name of an Arnold Schwarzenegger action thriller film (2002).

Answer: Play Misty for Me

Clint Eastwood's character Dave Garver is a womanizer attempting to reform, but when he seduces Evelyn Draper (Jessica Walters) in a bar, he becomes the victim of an obsessed and dangerous fan in "Play Misty for Me" (1971). This was Eastwood's directorial debut. The script was conceived by Jo Heims, a model and secretary. Eastwood bought the rights to the song "Misty", and Walters was nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe Award. Some of this film was shot in Eastwood's stomping grounds, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, where Eastwood lived, served as Mayor (1986-88), and built a "green" residential community in the hills. Photo hint: dogs playing.

Other unhinged devoted fans include Glen Close in "Fatal Attraction", Kathy Bates in "Misery", Robert De Niro in "The Fan" and Robin Williams in "One Hour Photo". For comic relief, "What About Bob?" with Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss.

Answer: Game show

Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Ben Richards in this 1987 dystopian thriller loosely based on a 1982 tale by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman). Set in about 2019 in a USA totalitarian police state, an economic collapse permits a TV show called "The Running Man" to force convicted criminals (and framed innocents) to evade professional killers for the entertainment of viewers. Real-life game show host Richard Dawson ("Family Feud") plays the villain Damon Killian, who cares only about his TV ratings. Mick Fleetwood of "Fleetwood Mac" has a role. Paula Abdul choreographed dance sequences.

But despite the talent, even Schwarzenegger and Stephen King don't like it much. Critics say the film accurately predicted some events, and that Dawson is good.

It's "offbeat fun", not a serious plot. Photo hint: a game bird, the beautiful ring-necked pheasant.