TODAY’S QUESTION:

Another puzzler that you can work on over your time off:

What role do all these actors have in common?

John Derek
Victor Garber
Frank Langella
Jack Lemmon
James Marsden
Rob Morrow
Raoul Walsh

YESTERDAY‘S ANSWER:

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TODAY’S QUESTION:

Bonus difficulty level! This is a puzzler as well as a question of the day. (What’s a puzzler? Pretty much anything that’s not just a simple Googleable factual answer.)

What do these actors have in common?

Lon Chaney, Jr.
Brendan Fraser
Phil Hartman
Meat Loaf
John Lone
Matt Salinger

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER:

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Round 7 at the Old Pequliar on Dec. 2, 2008
Average score: 6.8/10 (15 teams)

1) Queen’s song “Keep Passing the Open Windows” was originally written for what 1984 movie, which featured Nastassja Kinski as a woman who dresses in a bear suit?

2) What 1998 thriller, directed by Tony Scott, stars Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert similar to the character he played in The Conversation?

3) What 1990 Christian Slater film about a mysterious high-school rebel won the Golden Space Needle award at SIFF, defeating Jesus of Montreal?

4) Billy Crystal originally wrote what 2001 comedy “about celebrity, family, and other forms of insanity,” so he could play the romantic lead, but ended up playing John Cusack’s publicist instead?

5) What 2001 comedy was the first film made featuring two African-American Oscar winners, specifically Whoopi Goldberg and Cuba Gooding, Jr.?

6) According to Salon.com’s critic Stephanie Zacharek, the real stars of what 2003 caper are the Mini Coopers involved in the chase scene?

7) What 1999 comedy/horror movie about a boy who accidentally kills his parents and best friends had its release date pushed back because of the Columbine massacre?

8) What 1998 big last-day-of-high-school party movie includes nine actors who appeared on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and four that appeared on Six Feet Under?

9) What 1997 movie features a British spy foiling the nefarious Project Vulcan, a subterranean delivery system for nuclear warheads?

10) What actor or actress appears in all nine of these movies?

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Round 7 at the Old Pequliar on Nov. 18, 2008
Average score: 4.2/10 (15 teams) — a little more difficult than I’d like

1) Stephen King wrote the miniseries Rose Red after he left working on what similar 1999 horror film based on a novel by Shirley Jackson?

2) What 2006 Robert Altman comedy is set at a farewell performance at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota?

3) John Grisham’s favorite adaptation from any of his novels is what 1997 Francis Ford Coppola film co-starring Danny DeVito?

4) What Rob Reiner movie dramatizes the 1994 trial of Byron de la Beckwith, the white supremacist accused of assassinating Medgar Evars in 1963?

5) According to the poster, what 1995 horror film that spawned four sequels features “an evil born in heaven … about to be unleashed on earth”?

6) Alan Smithee and Judas Booth are credited with directing and writing a longer cut of what David Lynch film, which he turned down Return of the Jedi to film?

7) Until this year’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, what 2006 thriller, set in Seattle, was the last Harrison Ford film in theaters ?

8) Mr. Skin’s favorite movie for seeing Jennifer Connelly naked (butt and breasts!) is what 1990 neo-noir directed by Dennis Hopper?

9) What 1992 horror film, inspired by the legend of Mary Worth, spawned two sequels, subtitled Farewell to the Flesh and Day of the Dead?

10) What actor or actress appears in all nine of these movies?

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Round 6 at the Old Pequliar on October 7, 2008

1) Originally titled Three Rivers, what 1993 action film about Pittsburgh police chasing a serial killer was so bad that Bruce Willis apologized for its existence to the movie-going public?
2) To save money while filming Nixon, Oliver Stone leased the Oval Office set built for what 1995 romantic comedy?
3) After starring in four period pieces in a row, Winona Ryder “really wanted to wear blue jeans for a change,” so she decided to take a role in what contemporary 1994 comedy?
4) What 1996 thriller based on a 1993 novel by William Diehl earned Edward Norton his first Academy Award nomination?
5) What 1993 thriller directed by Wolfgang Peterson is the last film Clint Eastwood starred in that he didn’t direct himself?
6) A 66% freshness rating on rottentomatoes.com means that what 2007 romantic comedy, his followup to Good Luck, Chuck, is Dane Cook’s best-reviewed movie so far?
7) Nicolas Cage plays Danny Aiello’s younger brother in what 1987 romantic comedy?
8) According to Premiere magazine, the 73rd best movie line ever is “”I gave her my heart, and she gave me a pen” from what Seattle-based 1989 comedy?
9) “Wallace Beery. Wrestling picture. What do you need, a roadmap?” That question comes from what movie?
10) What actor or actress appears in all nine of these films?

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Round 7 at the Old Pequliar on July 1, 2008.
Average score: 6.24/10 (17 teams)

1) Speaking of Britney Spears, before the release title was settled on, what 2002 drama was known as Untitled Britney Spears Project and Not a Girl?
2) What 2006 satire features Luke Wilson, the smartest man on earth, pointing out that it may contain electrolytes, but Brawndo isn’t as good for crops as water (not necessarily from the toilet)?
3) What 2006 romantic comedy features one of the stars requesting “the Telly Savales” at a waxing salon?
4) In December 2007, John C. Reilly performed seven concerts in character to promote what movie, produced by Judd Apatow?
5) Lindsay Lohan won a Kid’s Choice Award for her performance in what 2005 film that revived a famous Disney character from the ’70s and ’80s?
6) What 2005 comedy, inspired by Clerks, focuses on several characters working a shift at the fictional fast-casual restaurant Shenaniganz?
7) Jonathan Frakes called Patrick Stewart and told him he “must not miss” what 1999 comedy, insisting that he see it “on a Saturday night in a full theatre”?
8) What 2001 horror film takes its title from a popular song first recorded in 1938 by Louis Armstrong?
9) What 2007 action film, based on an article from Wired magazine, inspired local film critic Vern to say “don’t be Ellis” to the studio executive who required that it get a PG-13 rating?
10) What actor or actress appears in all nine of these movies?

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Round 7 at the Old Pequliar on Feb. 5, 2008
Average score: 4/10 (8 teams)

1) What 1997 comedy, which shares its name with a fast food restaurant, includes an Academy Awards ceremony where the Best Actor nominees include Paul Newman in “Coot”, Clint Eastwood in “Codger”, Michael Douglas in “Primary Urges” and Steven Seagal in “Snowball in Hell”?
2) What 2005 satire, which takes its name from an early REM song, did David Denby describe as a “dirty-minded poison-pen letter to a country swollen with self-esteem” and compare to Election, Heathers, and Mean Girls?
3) What 2005 horror film, a remake of a John Carpenter movie, concerns the fate of the crew of the Elizabeth Dane?
4) In Ocean’s Twelve, Topher Grace says he “totally phoned in that Dennis Quaid movie.” What 2004 movie is he talking about?
5) What 2004 film featuring a raunchy version of the hokey pokey was director John Waters’ first film rated NC-17?
6) What 2001 comedy was adapted into a musical starring Laura Bell Bundy, which debuted last year in San Francisco before opening at the Palace Theater on Broadway?
7) What 2002 Cameron Diaz comedy, which shares its name with a U2 song, did film critic Charles Taylor declare “one of the flattest, stupidest, unfunniest sex comedies — as well as one of the worst all-round pictures — I’ve ever seen”?
8) Indie pop band Belle & Sebastian composed the soundtrack for what 2001 Todd Solondz film?
9) What 2004 film based on a comic book character did Guillermo del Toro direct between Blade II and Pan’s Labyrinth?
10) Who appeared in all nine of these movies?

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Round 7 at the Old Pequliar on April 1, 2008
Average score: 6.14/10 (21 teams)

1) Robin Williams impersonates Desi Arnaz, John Wayne, and Bette Davis as a “brain-fried, electrified, infected and injectified” fruit bat in what 1992 children’s film?
2) In what 1989 comedy do Run-D.M.C. cover a song written and originally performed by Ray Parker Jr.?
3) The short John Grisham novel Skipping Christmas was the basis for what 2004 comedy, Roger Ebert’s second-worst film of the year?
4) What 1996 satire starring Samuel L. Jackson was inspired by the highly profitable interracial boxing match between Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney?
5) Legendary singer Bob Dylan stars as a legendary singer in what 2003 movie, which he also co-wrote and composed the soundtrack for?
6) What 2006 animated film, known as Wheelbarrows in Russia, climaxes at the 2005 Piston Cup races?
7) What 1996 horror film was the first movie George Clooney starred in after he was cast on ER?
8) Kevin Costner’s character declares that “when a defining moment comes along, you define the moment… or the moment defines you” in what 1996 sports comedy?
9) What 1978 cult comedy featuring a van made of marijuana, was banned by South Africa because “it might encourage the impressionable youth of South Africa to take up marijuana smoking”?
10) What actor or actress appeared in all 9 of these films?

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What unusual distinction do these people share?

Steve Buscemi, Brian Dennehy, Kelsey Grammar, Derek Jacobi, Paul Lynde, Vincent Price, Timothy Spall, and Kate Winslet

1) A title card quoting the American Heritage Dictionary — specifically the definition “A soft, moist, shapeless mass of matter” — kicks off what 1994 crime drama?
2) “Keep on Moppin’ in the Free world” was one of the taglines for what 2001 comedy produced by Happy Madison, Adam Sandler’s production company?
3) The segments “Penthouse Video,” “Bullshit or Not,” “Don ‘No Soul’ Simmons,” and “Murray in Videoland” are all part of what 1987 comedy directed by 5 different people?
4) Kevin Costner’s scenes were cut from The Big Chill. To make up for it, director Lawrence Kasdan gave him a starring role in what 1985 western?
5) What 1998 Sandra Bullock film, directed by Forest Whitaker, spawned a soundtrack that hit #1 in the Billboard country charts?
6) What 1989 film includes Sofia Coppola’s first screenplay credit, and also perhaps Francis Ford Coppola’s worst-reviewed directorial effort?
7) What controversial 1996 film features a main character who shares his name with the author who wrote the 1973 novel the film was based on?
8) What 2000 film, remade as the Bollywood film Awara Paagal Deewana, led to Bruce Willis doing a cameo on Friends?
9) What 1985 film almost starred Ellen Barkin in the title role, until the director cast an up-and-coming pop star to play the part instead?
10) What actor or actress appeared in all 9 of these films?

Average score (19 teams): 4.63 (harder than I’d like)

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