Film

Learn the language of camera, editing, and narrative, then follow cinema’s historical movements. Connect directors to their films and use regional film, performer, and industry sections to deepen that foundation.

Film Language and Technique

Learn how framing, editing, sound, and narrative create meaning.

Film as a Medium

• Film — The art form and medium of recorded visual works, central to criticism and film studies. It is associated with directors such as Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, and Hitchcock, and with debates over the male gaze, auteur theory, spectatorship, censorship, Hollywood production codes, realism, and Italian neorealism. Notable theorists and critics linked to it include André Bazin, Gilles Deleuze, Slavoj Žižek, Manny Farber, James Baldwin, and Laura Mulvey. Examples mentioned include Star Wars and Interstellar, especially for their famous film scores.

• film or movie — A film or movie is a recorded dramatic work intended to be watched as a moving-image narrative. The term can also refer more broadly to the medium of cinema or to a specific entertainment work in that medium.

Film Terms and Concepts

Cinematography and Visual Style

• Mise-en-scène — French for “putting into the scene”; everything in front of the camera: sets, lighting, costume, actor placement, staging. The term is also used in theater and film criticism for the total visual arrangement of a production or frame, including props, costumes, lighting, and actors’ positions; it is often associated with modern theater practice and with cinematic analysis of how a scene is visually composed.

• Deep focus — keeping all planes of the frame (near and far) in sharp focus simultaneously; famously used by Gregg Toland in Citizen Kane.

• Long take — an uncut shot of extended duration; used by Welles, Tarkovsky, and directors emphasizing real time.

• Tracking shot / dolly shot — the camera moves horizontally alongside the subject.

• Crane shot — camera is mounted on a crane for a high or sweeping movement.

• Steadicam — stabilizing rig for smooth handheld-style moving shots; invented by Garrett Brown, used famously in Rocky (1976) and The Shining. It permits smooth tracking shots without the jolts of handheld camerawork.

• Dutch angle (canted angle) — tilted camera to create unease or disorientation.

• Rack focus / pull focus — shifting the focal plane from one subject to another within a single shot.

• Aspect ratio — the ratio of frame width to height. Common: 1.33:1 (4:3, silent/early TV), 1.85:1 (US widescreen), 2.39:1 (anamorphic/CinemaScope).

• Cinematography
  • lighting — This aspect of filmmaking covers techniques such as three-point setups, butterfly lighting, and the “Obie” light. It also describes the use of practical sources like LEDs and neon in art and cinema, including the work of Dan Flavin and Robby Müller.
    • key light — A key light is the main bright source in three-point lighting, used to define form and dimension on the subject. It is balanced with a fill light and a backlight.
  • tracking shot — A tracking shot is a moving-camera technique in which the camera follows action through space, often on a dolly or crane. Famous examples include the Copacabana shot in Goodfellas and the opening of Touch of Evil.
• film techniques

  • 3D — 3D is the stereoscopic film technique that requires viewers to wear special glasses such as red-and-blue or polarizing lenses. Its modern revival is often tied to Avatar and earlier waves include the 1950s craze for films like Bwana Devil and House of Wax.

  • animation — Animation is the medium of moving pictures created frame by frame, including cel animation, rotoscoping, and stop-motion techniques. Classic examples include Disney features like Snow White and pioneering works by Winsor McCay and Émile Cohl.
    • cartoons — Cartoons are animated shorts and films, a medium associated with music-driven gags, Mickey Mousing, and Warner Bros. classics like What’s Opera, Doc? The word also refers to Raphael’s large preparatory drawings for tapestries, which helped give the term its modern artistic sense.

  • bullet time — Bullet time is a video game and film effect that lets the player or viewer act at normal speed while everything else slows down. It is especially associated with Max Payne and The Matrix, where characters dodge projectiles in dramatic slow motion. Quizbowl clues often mention related names like “thereisnospoon” in Jedi Academy or alternative game names such as Speed Breaker and Dead Eye.

  • dolly zoom — A dolly zoom is a camera effect made by zooming the lens while moving the camera in the opposite direction, so the subject stays roughly the same size while the background warps. It is strongly associated with Hitchcock’s Vertigo and was also used memorably in Jaws.

  • Found Footage — Found footage is a film style that presents a story as if it were discovered recordings rather than a conventional narrative. It is associated with horror films such as The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, and The Bay.

  • split screen — Split screen is a filmmaking technique that places separate images in one frame, often so different actions or viewpoints can be shown at once. It is used in films such as Annie Hall and other works that divide the frame to compare simultaneous scenes.

  • wipes — A wipe is a film transition that replaces one shot with another, often used for stylized scene changes or comic effect. George Lucas borrowed the horizontal wipe heavily from Akira Kurosawa, especially in Star Wars and in the framing of The Hidden Fortress.
• Filmmaking techniques
  • filmed in one shot — A film made to appear as if it were shot in one continuous take presents a single unbroken visual flow. Examples include Birdman, 1917, Victoria, and Son of Saul, though some rely on hidden edits.
• Cinematography techniques
  • Dutch angle — A Dutch angle tilts the camera frame to create unease or disorientation, a device common in German expressionist film. It is especially associated with horror and stylized action scenes.
• golden hour — Golden hour, or magic hour, is the short period just after sunrise or before sunset when sunlight is low, warm, and indirect. It is prized in photography and cinematography, including films shot by Nestor Almendros and Emmanuel Lubezki.

Editing Terms

• Montage — the assembly of shots into a sequence; in Soviet theory, collision of images creates meaning beyond either shot alone. Soviet theorists such as Sergei Eisenstein and Lev Kuleshov made it central to film theory and used it to generate meaning through juxtaposition.

• Continuity editing — the dominant Hollywood style; cuts are invisible; action, eyeline, and screen direction are matched across cuts.

• Match cut — a cut where a compositional or action element in the outgoing shot matches the incoming shot (famous: bone to spacecraft in 2001).

• Jump cut — a cut that skips forward in time within a continuous scene, violating continuity; associated with the French New Wave and particularly Godard’s trademark technique in Breathless.

• Cross-cutting (parallel editing) — alternating between two simultaneous actions in different locations; codified by Griffith.

• Eyeline match — character looks in a direction; next shot shows what they see.

• L-cut / J-cut — audio from the next scene begins before the picture cut (L-cut) or audio from the previous scene continues into the next shot (J-cut).

• Smash cut — abrupt, jarring cut, often for comedic or shocking effect.

• blinking — Blinking is the action that titles works about sight, time, and cinema, including an episode of Doctor Who about the Weeping Angels. It is also central to Walter Murch’s editing theory and the title of his book In the Blink of an Eye.

Narrative and Theoretical Concepts

• Auteur theory — the director as the dominant creative voice, consistent across their body of work; articulated by Truffaut in Cahiers du Cinéma (1954), popularized in America by Andrew Sarris. It holds that a film is chiefly shaped by its director’s creative vision rather than by the studio or individual performers. It was developed in French film criticism and later popularized in the United States by Andrew Sarris.

• Genre — a category of film sharing conventions of setting, character, and plot; major genres include Western, noir, horror, musical, romantic comedy, science fiction, gangster.

• MacGuffin — a plot device (object, goal) that motivates characters but is ultimately unimportant to the theme; term popularized by Alfred Hitchcock. Examples include the briefcase in Pulp Fiction and the microfilm in North by Northwest. It is commonly used for any narrative device whose importance lies mainly in getting the story moving.

• Diegetic / non-diegetic sound — diegetic sound exists in the story world (a character can hear it); non-diegetic does not (e.g., a musical score).

• Kuleshov effect — the meaning viewers attribute to a neutral shot is shaped by the shot immediately preceding it; foundational to montage theory. The film-theory idea that viewers infer emotion and meaning from the juxtaposition of shots rather than from a single image alone. It is associated with Soviet montage and with filmmaker Lev Kuleshov’s demonstrations using the same expressionless face in different contexts.

• Negative space — empty or unoccupied areas in the frame used compositionally. Negative space is the unoccupied area around and between objects in visual composition. It is the kind of space used in the FedEx logo and in Rubin vase-style ambiguous images.

• The 180-degree rule — in continuity editing, the camera stays on one side of an imaginary axis between characters to maintain consistent screen direction.

• Feminist film theory
  • Laura Mulvey — Laura Mulvey is a feminist film theorist best known for the essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” That essay introduced the concept of the male gaze and analyzed women’s “to-be-looked-at-ness” in Hollywood cinema.

• film director — A film director shapes a movie’s vision, and the clues point to figures like Hitchcock, Welles, Almodóvar, Kiarostami, Panahi, and Tornatore. The examples include Pain and Glory, This Is Not a Film, Close-Up, and Cinema Paradiso.

• racial performance
  • blackface — Blackface is the practice of darkening the skin for racist caricature, most notoriously in minstrel shows and early film performance. It appears in controversies around The Jazz Singer, Bamboozled, and other works that revisit racial performance.
• stock characters
  • used car salesman — A used car salesman is a sleazy car dealer, a stock comic profession in crime films and dark comedies. Quizbowl clues for this job include Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo, Bill Paxton posing as a spy in True Lies, and Cobra Commander’s backstory in Matilda and other parodies.

• train robberies — Train robberies are a classic Western crime, especially in stories about outlaw gangs holding up locomotives and escaping by rail. The best-known example is The Great Train Robbery, the early silent film whose ending became iconic.

• film motifs
  • playing the piano — Playing the piano is a recurring motif in films about performance, emotion, and desire, especially in works by Jane Campion, Michael Haneke, and François Girard. It often signals a character’s expressive or restrained inner life, as in The Piano and The Piano Teacher.
• Fictional businesses
  • Retail Rodeo — Retail Rodeo is a fictional discount store used as a stand-in for a low-budget big-box retailer. It appears in films centered on workplace life and retail culture.
• screenwriting
  • screenplay — A screenplay is a written script for a film, including original and adapted versions. Award categories such as Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay recognize this form of writing.
• Themes
  • vengeance — Vengeance is the title concept behind Park Chan-wook’s revenge trilogy, which includes Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Lady Vengeance. The title also appears in several film titles, including Johnnie To’s film Lady Vengeance and the 2021 Indonesian movie Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash.
• Western film tropes
  • train robbery — Train robbery is the classic Western crime associated with The Great Train Robbery, often cited as an early landmark of silent cinema. It also appears in Firefly’s episode centered on a heist of this sort.

Related Works, People, and Context

• Cameras — Cameras are image-capturing devices used in photography, film, surveillance imagery such as Big Brother’s in Nineteen Eighty-Four, and the camera-eye narration associated with John Dos Passos. They also became a major subject in video games, including Fatal Frame, Pokémon Snap, and Dead Rising, where photography is tied to gameplay and observation, and in the history of photography from Kodak’s hand-held models to later digital devices.

• film stock — Film stock is the photographic material used in motion picture production and projection. It can be replaced by digital video in independent filmmaking and was a medium for experimental art practices in the 1960s.

• Film terminology
  • subtitles — Subtitles are on-screen text that transcribes dialogue or translates speech in films and stage performances. They are commonly stored in formats such as SRT and TTML, and can also include surtitles for opera.
• Film title phrases
  • once upon a time in — “Once Upon a Time In” is a recurring film-title phrase used in works such as Once Upon a Time in the West, America, and Hollywood. It also appears in titles tied to Hong Kong martial-arts films and other international cinema.
• Film title puns
  • Gilbert Stuart Saves His Family — Gilbert Stuart Saves His Family is a humorous title that puns on the American portraitist Gilbert Stuart. The title is associated with a 1995 film and with Stuart’s famous portraits of George Washington and other early presidents.
• Film title words
  • baby — A baby is a child in the earliest stage of human development, and the word also appears in titles like Baby Driver and Bringing Up Baby. The clue set also points to Babyteeth and Shiva Baby, showing the term’s use as a recurring title word in film and fiction.
• film titles
  • Lola — Lola is a title name associated with films by Max Ophüls, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Tom Tykwer, including Lola Montès and Run Lola Run. It also appears in songs and in the famous “Lola” figure from popular music and cinema.

• frames per second — Frames per second (FPS) measures frame rate in video, animation, and display refresh: the number of frames shown per second. Common examples include 24 fps in film, 60 fps for many displays, and lower rates such as 12 fps in stylized animation; animation on twos or threes and the classic 24 fps standard are common associated examples.

• Monsters
  • Kaiju — Kaiju is the Japanese term for giant monsters, literally “strange beasts.” It names the oversized creatures of films like Godzilla and the monsters that emerge from the Breach in Pacific Rim.
• Sound film
  • synchronized sound — Synchronized sound, or sound film, is the technology that lets dialogue and music be recorded in step with the image, replacing silent-era presentation. It was popularized in the United States by The Jazz Singer and later becomes a key plot point in Sunset Boulevard and Singin’ in the Rain.
• The Mask — The Mask is the 1994 Jim Carrey comedy in which a mysterious object gives Stanley Ipkiss a cartoonish green-faced alter ego. The title object is tied to Loki’s mischievous power and also appears in the sequel under the name Mask of Loki.
  • Son of the Mask — Son of the Mask is the sequel to The Mask, with Jamie Kennedy replacing Jim Carrey as the lead. The film is remembered for its cartoonish special effects, Odin and Loki plot, and its notorious critical failure.

• The Naked Gun — The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! is the spoof police movie starring Leslie Nielsen as Lt. Frank Drebin.

• The Naked Gun — The police-parody film series spun off from Police Squad! and associated with Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. It stars Leslie Nielsen as the bumbling lawman Frank Drebin. The first film turns on a plot against Queen Elizabeth II and also includes O. J. Simpson as Nordberg. The franchise ran through several sequels and later continued with a 2025 installment starring Liam Neeson as Drebin’s son. Its comedy style is defined by deadpan slapstick and absurd visual running jokes.

Film Criticism, Theory, and Scholarship

• 2022 Sight and Sound critics’ poll — Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) ranked first; Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, first in 2012, ranked second.¹

• Sight & Sound poll — published by the British Film Institute every ten years; the most prestigious critical ranking of the greatest films; 1962 poll first placed Citizen Kane at number one; Vertigo topped the 2012 poll; Jeanne Dielman topped the 2022 poll.

• Film analysis
  • Close-Up — Close-Up is Abbas Kiarostami’s film about a man who impersonates Mohsen Makhmalbaf and blurs documentary with fiction. As a cinematographic term, a close-up tightly frames a subject’s face or body, and is a classic visual device in film analysis.
• Film critics
  • American film critics
    • Michael Medved — Michael Medved is a conservative film critic and radio host who became known for attacking anti-family content and for co-hosting Sneak Previews and At the Movies. He is also associated with criticism of Hollywood’s handling of history and with commentary on films such as Amistad and Million Dollar Baby.

  • Andrew Sarris — Andrew Sarris was a leading American film critic who popularized auteur theory in the United States. His book The American Cinema and his concentric-ring essay on technique, style, and interior meaning made him a key rival of Pauline Kael.

  • Armond White — Armond White is a contrarian film critic known for praising unpopular movies and attacking widely acclaimed ones. He has written for outlets including the National Review and New York Press and is associated with an annual Better-Than list.

  • J. Hoberman — J. Hoberman is the Village Voice film critic whose annual top-ten lists became a well-known reference point in film criticism. His 1986 list notably placed the television broadcast of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series among his year’s best entries.

  • Joe Bob Briggs — Joe Bob Briggs is the movie critic persona created by John Bloom, best known for hosting Monstervision and other trash-cinema showcases. He cultivated a comic drive-in reviewer style and wrote about exploitation films and horror.

  • Joel Siegel — Joel Siegel was a film critic best known for his work on Good Morning America and WABC-TV in New York. He also wrote the book Lessons for Dylan after being diagnosed with cancer and had earlier worked as a joke writer and a critic with an unusually visual review style.

  • Jonathan Rosenbaum — Jonathan Rosenbaum is a film critic and author best known for writing about Orson Welles, Ingmar Bergman, and the politics of film criticism. He edited This Is Orson Welles, wrote Discovering Orson Welles and Movie Wars, and long served as a critic for the Chicago Reader.

  • Leonard Maltin — Leonard Maltin is a film critic, historian, and television personality associated with Entertainment Tonight and Playboy. He wrote books such as Selected Short Subjects, Of Mice and Magic, The Great Movie Comedians, and The Disney Films. He also taught at USC and once appeared in Gremlins 2: The New Batch as one of the movie’s cameos.
    • No. — ‘No.’ is Leonard Maltin’s famously tiny review of the 1948 musical Isn’t It Romantic? The one-word judgment is remembered as an example of an extremely short movie review.

  • Pauline Kael — Pauline Kael was a longtime New Yorker film critic known for sharp, influential essays collected in books like I Lost It at the Movies and When the Lights Go Down. She became famous for defenses of films such as Bonnie and Clyde and for essays like “Circles and Squares,” where she attacked Andrew Sarris’s auteur theory.

  • Roger Ebert — Roger Ebert was the film critic and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, one of the most influential and widely read American film reviewers. He won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1975, becoming the first Pulitzer Prize-winning critic in his field. He co-hosted television review programs with Gene Siskel and later Richard Roeper, wrote about cinema history and major festivals, coauthored The Great Movies, and was the subject of the documentary Life Itself and his memoir Life Itself, which recounts the loss of his speaking voice after cancer.
• Film studies
  • film criticism — Film criticism is analytical writing about movies, including reviews, auteur studies, and theoretical essays. Important names in the field include Pauline Kael, André Bazin, Christian Metz, and Laura Mulvey.

    • Andre Bazin — André Bazin was a French film critic and theorist who helped found Cahiers du Cinéma. He championed realism, deep focus, and mise en scène, and his essays on the ontology of the photographic image were collected in What Is Cinema?

    • auteur — An auteur is a film director treated as the primary creative author of a movie, rather than merely a stager of someone else’s work. The term is associated with François Truffaut and the French New Wave, especially in discussions of Hitchcock.

    • male gaze — The male gaze is Laura Mulvey’s term for the scopophilic depiction of women as objects of visual pleasure for men. Clues may connect it to film theory, The Second Sex, Cindy Sherman, and critiques of eroticized camera work in cinema.

• film theorists

  • André Bazin — André Bazin was a French film theorist who co-founded Cahiers du cinéma and wrote What Is Cinema?. He favored realism, deep focus, and long takes, and his essays helped shape modern film criticism.

  • Rudolf Arnheim — Rudolf Arnheim was a film theorist and art historian who used Gestalt psychology to analyze visual perception and artistic form. His major works include Film as Art, Visual Thinking, and Art and Visual Perception.

• Film scholars
  • David Bordwell — David Bordwell is a film scholar known for arguing for a “historical poetics” approach and for helping define cognitive film theory. He co-authored the textbooks Film Art and Film History with Kristin Thompson and wrote studies of directors such as Eisenstein, Ozu, and Dreyer, as well as Narration in the Fiction Film and Planet Hong Kong.
• Filmography
  • final completed feature film of each director — The final completed feature film of a director is the last feature they finished before their death or retirement. Examples in the evidence include works by Kubrick, Hitchcock, Eisenstein, and Fellini.

Early Cinema and the Studio Era

Follow early cinema and the institutions of the studio era.

History of Cinema

Origins (1890s–1906)

• Lumière Brothers (Auguste and Louis) — French inventors; their Cinématographe (1895) projected moving images to a paying audience in Paris; widely considered the birth of cinema. Their short films include L’Arrivée d’un train en gare de La Ciotat (1896).

• Thomas Edison / W.K.L. Dickson — developed the Kinetoscope (1891), a peephole viewer for short films; Edison’s lab produced early actuality films.

• Georges Méliès — French illusionist; pioneered narrative and special-effects filmmaking; A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune, 1902) is his most famous work and the first sci-fi film. He made stage-like fantasy films using side-lit studio shots and early cinematic trick effects. Other works include The Conjuror, The Coronation of Edward VII, The Impossible Voyage, and The Dreyfus Affair.

  • A Trip to the Moon — A Trip to the Moon is Georges Méliès’s early science-fiction film about a planned lunar expedition launched from a cannon. Its most famous image is the capsule striking the Moon’s eye, and the film is also known for its theatrical special effects, including substitution splices and a mushroom transformation.

  • Georges Méliès (“male-YES”) — Georges Méliès was an early French filmmaker known for fantasy and trick films such as A Trip to the Moon and The Impossible Voyage. He is often credited with pioneering the jump cut and other in-camera illusions in silent cinema.

• Edwin S. Porter — American director; The Great Train Robbery (1903) established film grammar including cross-cutting and close-ups. He is also associated with The Life of an American Fireman and with helping establish cinematic editing techniques such as cross-cutting and more dynamic use of camera angles in narrative film.
  • The Great Train Robbery — The Great Train Robbery is Edwin S. Porter’s 1903 film often treated as the first narrative movie. Its famous ending, in which a gun is fired directly at the camera, helped make it one of the foundational works of early cinema.
• Film history
  • Pioneers of cinema
    • Lumiere brothers — The Lumiere brothers, Auguste and Louis, were French pioneers of cinema who helped establish early motion-picture technique with the Cinématographe. Their early films included Workers Leaving the Factory and L’Arrivée d’un train en gare de La Ciotat, among other short actualities.

Silent Era (1907–1927)

• D.W. Griffith — codified editing techniques (close-ups, cross-cutting, parallel editing); The Birth of a Nation (1915) was a technical landmark but is notorious for its glorification of the KKK; Intolerance (1916) was his elaborate response to criticism. He was a pioneering American film director who also made many Biograph shorts and later features such as Broken Blossoms and Way Down East; Lillian Gish often appeared in his films.

  • Intolerance — Intolerance is D. W. Griffith’s 1916 silent epic that intercuts stories from Babylon, Judea, France, and modern America. It was his answer to criticism of The Birth of a Nation and is famous for its massive scale and recurring image of Eternal Motherhood.

  • The Birth of a Nation — The Birth of a Nation is D. W. Griffith’s 1915 silent film adaptation of Thomas Dixon’s novel The Clansman. It depicts the Civil War and Reconstruction through the lives of the Camerons and Stonemans and is notorious for its racist portrayal of Black characters and its glorification of the Ku Klux Klan. The film’s backlash helped motivate Griffith’s later Intolerance.
    • Birth of a Nation — The Birth of a Nation is D. W. Griffith’s 1915 film that glorified the Ku Klux Klan and was controversially shown at the White House. It became notorious both for its technical influence and for its overt white supremacist politics.
  • Way Down East — Way Down East is D. W. Griffith’s 1920 silent melodrama starring Lillian Gish as Anna Moore and Richard Barthelmess as her rescuer. Its best-known sequence is the ice-floe rescue after Anna is cast out following a secret marriage and pregnancy plotline.
• Charlie Chaplin — British actor-director; the Tramp character defined silent comedy; key films include The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931, made silently after sound arrived), and Modern Times (1936). He was also known as Charlie Chaplin and Charles Spencer Chaplin, and he was the silent-film comedian, director, and producer identified with the Little Tramp persona. He helped found United Artists.

  • City Lights — City Lights is Charlie Chaplin’s 1931 silent-era film in which the Little Tramp falls for a blind flower girl and tries to raise money for her operation. It includes famous comic set pieces with a whistle, a boxing match, and mistaken interactions with a millionaire who befriends the Tramp while drunk.

  • Modern Times — Modern Times is Charlie Chaplin’s film about the Little Tramp struggling in an industrial world of factories, assembly lines, and a feeding machine. It is famous for scenes of mechanical chaos, including the Tramp being pulled into the gears of a machine.

  • The Gold Rush — The Gold Rush is Charlie Chaplin’s 1925 comedy about the Little Tramp as a prospector in Alaska. It includes the shoe-eating sequence, the dance of the rolls on forks, and the famous cabin and stowaway scenes.
    • eating a shoe — Eating a shoe is the comic stunt linked to Charlie Chaplin in The Gold Rush and later to Werner Herzog after a lost bet. The scene is usually remembered as one of silent film’s famous gag sequences.

  • The Immigrant — The Immigrant is the title of both a Charlie Chaplin comedy short and a later film about arrivals in the United States. Chaplin’s version follows a would-be newcomer struggling with food, money, and romance on the way to America.

  • The Kid — The Kid is Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 silent feature, pairing comedy and pathos in the story of the Tramp and the abandoned boy he takes in. It is remembered for its dream sequence, the alley rescue, and the Tramp’s scheme of throwing rocks to create work for a window maker.

  • The Tramp — Charlie Chaplin’s iconic silent-film persona, marked by a bowler hat, cane, mustache, and baggy pants. He appears as a sentimental comic everyman in films such as The Kid, City Lights, The Gold Rush, and Modern Times, including the shoe-eating cabin scene and the factory-machine sequence; Chaplin symbolically retired the character in the final shot of Modern Times.

  • The Great Dictator — Charlie Chaplin’s 1940 anti-fascist satire in which he plays both a Jewish barber and the parody dictator Adenoid Hynkel of Tomainia; the barber is mistaken for Hynkel. Its famous finale uses the prelude from Lohengrin and ends with a plea for human dignity, democracy, and human brotherhood.

  • Chaplin — Chaplin is the surname shared by Charlie Chaplin and several members of his family. The name also points to the film Chaplin, in which Robert Downey Jr. played the title character.
• Buster Keaton — “The Great Stone Face”; master of physical comedy and elaborate stunts; The General (1926) and Sherlock Jr. (1924) are landmarks. Silent-film comedian, director, and acrobat known for his deadpan style and porkpie hat. Other notable films include Our Hospitality, The Navigator, Steamboat Bill, Jr., The Railrodder, and Film.

  • Seven Chances — Seven Chances is a 1925 silent comedy starring Buster Keaton as Jimmy Shannon, who must marry to keep an inheritance. Its finale features Keaton fleeing a crowd of brides after a chain of misunderstandings, with a memorable boulder-chase ending.

  • Steamboat Bill, Jr. — Steamboat Bill, Jr. is a 1928 Buster Keaton silent comedy set along the Mississippi River. It is best remembered for Keaton’s famous stunt involving the falling housefront and the open window that lands around him.

• Harold Lloyd — third major silent comedian; famous for the clock-hanging scene in Safety Last! (1923). His films include Girl Shy, The Kid Brother, and The Freshman, and he is known for his bespectacled go-getter persona and daredevil physical comedy with elaborate near-disasters.

• Mack Sennett — producer who developed slapstick comedy at Keystone Studios; popularized the Keystone Kops.

• F.W. Murnau (silent work) — German director who emigrated to Hollywood; Nosferatu (1922) and The Last Laugh (1924) were German-period landmarks; Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) is often called the greatest silent film and won the honorary “Unique and Artistic Picture” Oscar at the first Academy Awards.

• Carl Laemmle / Adolph Zukor — key founders of Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures, respectively, establishing the studio system.

• The Jazz Singer — released 1927 by Warner Bros.; directed by Alan Crosland; starring Al Jolson; the first feature-length film with synchronized dialogue, inaugurating the “talkie” era. Its famous line, “you ain’t heard nothin’ yet,” became emblematic of the shift from silent films to sound films and made synchronized dialogue and singing a turning point in film history.

• Broken Blossoms — Broken Blossoms is a 1919 D. W. Griffith film subtitled “The Yellow Man and the Girl.” It stars Lillian Gish as the abused Lucy Burrows, whose rescue by the Chinese missionary Cheng Huan ends in tragedy.

• Lois Weber — Lois Weber was a pioneering silent-film director and one of the first major American women to run her own studio. Her films included The Blot, Hypocrites, Shoes, and Where Are My Children?, and she often tackled censorship and social issues.

• Sherlock Jr. — Sherlock Jr. is a 1924 Buster Keaton comedy about a projectionist who dreams himself into the movie he is screening. It is famous for elaborate visual gags, including pool-table tricks, a motorcycle stunt, and a scene where the protagonist crashes through a cinema screen.

• F. W. Murnau — F. W. Murnau, born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe, was a major German silent-era film director associated with expressionist and Kammerspiel-era cinema. He directed Nosferatu, The Last Laugh, Sunrise (Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans), Faust, and Tabu, and his films are known for innovative camera movement, including the celebrated tracking shot in Sunrise. Nosferatu featured Count Orlok, a plague-bearing rat-like vampire, and became a classic of early cinema later remade more than once.
  • The Last Laugh — The Last Laugh is a 1924 F. W. Murnau film famous for Karl Freund’s unchained camera technique and its nearly wordless style. It follows an elderly hotel doorman who is demoted to washroom attendant and suffers a humiliating fall from status.

• Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans — Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans is F. W. Murnau’s 1927 silent film about a farmer tempted by the Woman from the City. It is famous for its dreamlike melodrama, visual experimentation, and its ending in which the husband and wife reconcile.

• Giovanni Pastrone
  • Cabiria — Cabiria is the title name of a 1914 Giovanni Pastrone epic and of Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria, the film whose heroine inspired Sweet Charity. Quizbowl clues often point to the Giulietta Masina character who is robbed by her lover Oscar yet ends the film smiling through tears.
• silent film — Silent film is the era and style of motion picture made without synchronized recorded sound. Such films often used title cards and were commonly accompanied live, including in Japanese cinema by benshi narrators.

  • intertitles — Intertitles are the text inserts used in silent film to convey dialogue or narration. They became a hallmark of silent cinema and were largely replaced by sound films, though major directors like Murnau and Lang used them creatively.

  • silent movies — These are films from the era before synchronized dialogue, the subject of Singin’ in the Rain and represented by The Artist.

• Silent film comedy
  • Keystone Kops — The Keystone Kops were a comic troupe of inept silent-film policemen created in Mack Sennett’s studio. They debuted in 1914 and became a lasting symbol of chaotic slapstick incompetence.

• Victor Sjostrom — Victor Sjöström was an important Swedish silent-film director who also acted in Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries. His films include The Wind, He Who Gets Slapped, and The Divine Woman.

• silent films — Silent films are motion pictures produced without synchronized sound, so theaters often supplied live piano or organ accompaniment and title cards for dialogue. They are associated with stars like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Mary Pickford, and Zasu Pitts. Restoration festivals, correct projection speeds, and the transition from the silent era to sound film are often noted in connection with them.
  • The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog — The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog is Alfred Hitchcock’s 1927 silent film about a couple who suspect their mysterious lodger is a serial killer nicknamed “The Avenger.” It adapts the Marie Belloc Lowndes novel that also inspired a later episode of Suspense.

Golden Age of Hollywood / Studio System (1927–1960)

• Gone with the Wind — 1939; directed by Victor Fleming (with uncredited contributions); won Best Picture along with 7 additional Oscars; Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh starred; Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress, the first Black performer to win an Oscar; held inflation-adjusted box-office record for years.
  • Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn — Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn is Rhett Butler’s famous final line to Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind. The line has become one of the most quoted in American film history.
• The Wizard of Oz — 1939; directed by Victor Fleming; notable for Technicolor sequences and iconic music. Judy Garland film adaptation; “There’s no place like home”; transition from sepia to Technicolor color as Dorothy enters Oz; a permanent fixture of American broadcast television’s annual-event programming before home video.
  • Wizard of Oz — The Wizard of Oz is the 1939 film based on L. Frank Baum’s Oz stories. It features the Wizard’s command to “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” and the title figure is originally a balloonist from Omaha.
• Film noir — genre/style prominent in the 1940s–50s; characterized by low-key lighting, moral ambiguity, femmes fatales; key titles include Double Indemnity (1944, Wilder), The Maltese Falcon (1941, Huston), Sunset Boulevard (1950, Wilder). It is associated with hardboiled detectives, stark black-and-white cinematography, and films such as The Third Man and The Naked City.

  • High Sierra — High Sierra is a 1941 film based on the W. R. Burnett novel of the same name. Humphrey Bogart stars as Roy Earle, an ex-convict planning a holdup while on the lam.

  • Kiss Me Deadly — “Kiss Me Deadly” is a 1988 hair metal song by Lita Ford, remembered as her first Top 30 hit. Kiss Me Deadly is also a 1955 film noir starring Ralph Meeker as detective Mike Hammer. In the film, Hammer’s investigation leads to a mysterious box whose opening triggers a catastrophic ending.

  • Out of the Past — Out of the Past is Jacques Tourneur’s classic film noir, starring Robert Mitchum as Jeff Bailey and Jane Greer as the femme fatale Kathie Moffat. It opens with Bailey living under a false name at a gas station, then follows the old crime story through Whit Sterling’s pursuit and the film’s fatal final showdown.

• Orson Welles — directed and starred in Citizen Kane (1941), widely ranked the greatest film ever made; innovative deep-focus cinematography (Gregg Toland, DP), nonlinear narrative. Won only Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars despite nine nominations. Also directed The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) and Touch of Evil (1958). Also known as George Orson Welles, he was an American director, actor, and radio performer; he later directed Chimes at Midnight, played Harry Lime and Hank Quinlan, narrated F for Fake, and voiced Unicron.

  • The Lady from Shanghai — The Lady from Shanghai is an Orson Welles film noir starring Rita Hayworth as Elsa Bannister and Everett Sloane as Arthur Bannister. Its best-known sequence is the hall-of-mirrors shootout, and the plot turns on Michael O’Hara’s involvement in a murder scheme involving George Grisby.

  • Touch of Evil — Touch of Evil is Orson Welles’s 1958 film noir about Mexican officer Mike Vargas and the corrupt police captain Hank Quinlan. It is famous for its long opening tracking shot of a bombed car crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

  • Citizen Kane — Citizen Kane is Orson Welles’s 1941 film about newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane and the mystery of his last word, “Rosebud.” It is famous for deep focus cinematography, the newsreel “News on the March,” and the breakdown of Kane’s marriages through montage and spectacle. The film was loosely inspired by William Randolph Hearst.

    • Charles Foster Kane — Charles Foster Kane is the title magnate of Citizen Kane, Orson Welles’s film about a newspaper tycoon modeled on William Randolph Hearst. He builds Xanadu, drafts a Declaration of Principles for his paper, and dies after whispering “Rosebud.”

    • Rosebud — Rosebud is the sled whose name is Charles Foster Kane’s dying word in Citizen Kane. The word becomes the object of Jerry Thompson’s investigation and is revealed in the film’s final furnace scene.

    • The Inquirer — The Inquirer is the newspaper published by Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane. It serves as the flagship newspaper of his media empire.

  • A Touch of Evil — Orson Welles’s A Touch of Evil is a 1958 crime film known for its celebrated opening tracking shot. It also drew attention for casting Charlton Heston as a Mexican detective and for its noir atmosphere.
• Howard Hawks — versatile director spanning genres: Scarface (1932), Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Big Sleep (1946), Rio Bravo (1959). An American film director known for versatile genre work in screwball comedy, crime films, westerns, and adventure movies. His films include His Girl Friday, To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo, Bringing Up Baby, and the 1953 version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

  • Bringing Up Baby — Bringing Up Baby is Howard Hawks’s 1938 screwball comedy starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. The plot follows paleontologist David Huxley and the trouble caused by Susan Vance and her pet leopard.

  • His Girl Friday — His Girl Friday is Howard Hawks’s rapid-fire screwball comedy based on The Front Page, with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell as Walter Burns and Hildy Johnson. The film is famous for its meta-jokes, fast dialogue, and its reworking of the reporter Hildy as a woman.

  • Rio Bravo — Rio Bravo is Howard Hawks’s 1959 Western starring John Wayne as Sheriff John T. Chance, with Dean Martin as Dude, Ricky Nelson as Colorado, and Walter Brennan as Stumpy. The film centers on a sheriff resisting outside help while holding a jailed murderer, and it later inspired John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13.

  • Only Angels Have Wings — Only Angels Have Wings is Howard Hawks’s aviation film about mail pilots flying over the Andes. It stars Cary Grant and features one of Rita Hayworth’s early major roles, along with the hazards of mountain flying and the camaraderie of a rough airfield outpost. The film is one of Hawks’s best-known action-romance hybrids.

• John Ford — master of the Western; Stagecoach (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941, won Best Picture over Citizen Kane), The Searchers (1956). Born John Feeney, he won four directing Oscars, also for The Informer and The Quiet Man.
  • Mister Roberts — Mister Roberts is the comedy-drama set aboard the USS Reluctant, where the title naval officer longs to leave the ship. The film stars Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, and William Powell, and it is remembered for Ensign Pulver’s stinkin’ palm tree outburst.
• Billy Wilder — Austrian émigré; wrote and directed across comedy and drama: Double Indemnity (1944), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960, Best Picture). He was born in Austria-Hungary and became an Austrian-American filmmaker and screenwriter known for sharp dialogue and stylishly cynical comedies and dramas. Other films he directed include Witness for the Prosecution and The Seven Year Itch. His collaborators included Charles Brackett and I.A.L. Diamond.

  • Ace in the Hole — Ace in the Hole is the Billy Wilder film about reporter Chuck Tatum, who turns a cave rescue into a media circus. The story was inspired by the real-life Floyd Collins disaster.

  • Stalag 17 — Stalag 17 is Billy Wilder’s 1953 film about American prisoners in a German POW camp. William Holden stars as Sgt. J. J. Sefton, and his Oscar win for the role is remembered for the famously brief acceptance speech, ‘Thank you.’

  • The Lost Weekend
    • Lost Weekend — Lost Weekend is the Billy Wilder film about alcoholism that won major Academy Awards recognition. It is the title by which The Lost Weekend is usually known.

  • The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes — The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is Billy Wilder’s 1970 mystery film starring Robert Stephens as Sherlock Holmes and Colin Blakely as Watson. Its plot mixes espionage, comic sexuality, and absurd mysteries involving a submarine, a Scottish castle, and the Loch Ness monster.

  • The Seven Year Itch — The Seven Year Itch is Billy Wilder’s 1955 comedy about a married man tempted while his family is away for the summer. Its best-known image is Marilyn Monroe standing over a subway grate as her skirt blows upward. The film stars Tom Ewell and Evelyn Keyes, and its title refers to the supposed restlessness of long-married men. It is one of Monroe’s most enduring screen images.

  • Witness for the Prosecution — Billy Wilder’s courtroom thriller centers on Leonard Vole, Christine, and the razor-edged testimony that ends with an unexpected murder. The film is adapted from an Agatha Christie story and is remembered for its final warning not to spoil the ending.

  • Double Indemnity — Double Indemnity is Billy Wilder’s classic film noir about an insurance salesman and a femme fatale who plot murder for policy money. The film is framed by Walter Neff’s confession, and it is famous for its flashback structure, Barbara Stanwyck’s Phyllis Dietrichson, and Raymond Chandler’s co-writing.

  • Some Like It Hot — Some Like It Hot is Billy Wilder’s cross-dressing gangster comedy starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. It ends with the famous line, “Well, nobody’s perfect!”

    • Nobody’s Perfect — Nobody’s Perfect is a stock reply from Some Like It Hot, where Osgood shrugs off Daphne’s revelation in the closing scene. The title also appears as the name of a film about a boy cross-dressing to join a girls’ tennis team.

    • Sugar Kane — Sugar Kane is the Marilyn Monroe character in Some Like It Hot. She is the nightclub singer that Joe pursues while disguising himself as an heir to a fortune.

    • Well, nobody’s perfect — “Well, nobody’s perfect” is the final line of Some Like It Hot, spoken by Osgood Fielding III. The joke ends Jerry’s frantic confession that he is not a natural blonde, smokes, cannot have children, and is actually a man.

  • Sunset Boulevard — Billy Wilder’s film noir about faded silent-era star Norma Desmond and struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis; the film opens with Gillis’s corpse in a swimming pool and ends with Norma’s delirious close-up line, “Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my closeup!” Norma is played by Gloria Swanson and Joe by William Holden, with Erich von Stroheim as Max and Buster Keaton in a cameo. It is named for the Los Angeles street where Norma lives and was later adapted into an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
    • Norma Desmond — Norma Desmond is the faded silent-film star in Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, played by Gloria Swanson. She grows increasingly delusional, keeps the screenwriter Joe Gillis in her orbit, and ends the film by claiming she is ready for her close-up after killing him.
• Alfred Hitchcock — British-born director; master of suspense; worked in Hollywood from 1940; key films include Rebecca (1940, Best Picture), Rope (1948), Strangers on a Train (1951), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), The Birds (1963). Never won a competitive Oscar for directing. Also known as Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock. His thrillers are noted for visual set pieces such as the shower scene in Psycho and the confined viewpoint of Rear Window, and his work inspired later homages and parodies. Other films include Notorious, Shadow of a Doubt, The Wrong Man, The Lodger, and The Pleasure Garden. His early career included title-card work; his cameo appearances became a signature.

  • Dial M for Murder — Dial M for Murder is Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller about Tony Wendice’s plot to have his wife Margot killed and frame her after the murder attempt fails. The film is also remembered for the famous scene in which Margot struggles toward the audience with scissors, and for its association with the dolly zoom description in some clues.

  • Foreign Correspondent — Foreign Correspondent is a 1940 Alfred Hitchcock film about a reporter sent to Europe as war looms. Its plot involves spies, an attempted assassination, and a broadcast from London urging America to stay alert.

  • Frenzy — Frenzy is a 1972 Alfred Hitchcock thriller about a serial killer known as the Necktie Strangler or Necktie Killer. It follows Richard Blaney, who is wrongly suspected and later imprisoned for the murders. The film centers on strangulations committed with a necktie and was one of Hitchcock’s later works.

  • Jamaica Inn — Jamaica Inn is Alfred Hitchcock’s 1939 film adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel, set in Cornwall rather than the Caribbean. Its plot centers on smugglers and shipwreckers who lure ships onto the rocks by turning off the beacons.

  • Lady Vanishes — Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes is a 1938 thriller about a woman who believes an elderly governess named Miss Froy has disappeared from a train in a fictional Balkan country. It also features the cricket-obsessed pair Charters and Caldicott and the secret agent Dr. Hartz, making the mystery feel like both espionage and comedy.

  • Lifeboat — Lifeboat is the Hitchcock film set aboard a lifeboat after a ship sinks, adapted from a John Steinbeck story. Its clues often mention Tallulah Bankhead, a German captain, and Hitchcock’s cameo in a newspaper ad.
    • newspaper-ad cameo — In Lifeboat, Hitchcock’s cameo is not a walk-on role but a picture used in a newspaper advertisement. The device is one of the director’s characteristic self-insert appearances.

  • Mr. & Mrs. Smith — Mr. & Mrs. Smith is the title of both a 1941 Hitchcock comedy and an unrelated 2005 action film. The Hitchcock version starred Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery as a married couple with comic relationship troubles.

  • Notorious — Notorious is Alfred Hitchcock’s 1946 espionage film starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, centered on Alicia Huberman infiltrating a Nazi household in Rio de Janeiro. Its famous clues include the long kissing scene, the key shot from above, the uranium hidden in the wine cellar, and the ending with Devlin carrying Alicia away.

  • Psycho — Psycho is Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 thriller about Marion Crane, Norman Bates, and the infamous shower scene at the Bates Motel. Clues often mention the chocolate-syrup blood effect, the drain-to-eye cut, and the film’s shocking ending with Mrs. Bates.

    • Bates — The Bates family is the disturbed family at the center of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and the later Bates Motel story world. Norman Bates famously kills his mother and assumes her identity, while the family home and motel are key horror settings.

    • Norman Bates — Norman Bates is the motel owner and central villain of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. He has a murderous split identity centered on his mother, and the best-known version of the character was played by Anthony Perkins.

    • the shower scene from Psycho — The shower scene from Psycho is Alfred Hitchcock’s famous murder sequence in which Marion Crane is stabbed by Norman Bates. Bernard Herrmann’s shrieking string score and the rapid editing made it one of the most iconic scenes in film history.

  • Rear Window — Rear Window is Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller about a wheelchair-bound photographer who spies on his neighbors and suspects Lars Thorwald of murder. Its setting in the apartment courtyard, along with Grace Kelly, Jimmy Stewart, Miss Lonelyhearts, and the famous flashbulb climax, make it instantly recognizable.

  • Shadow of a Doubt — Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt follows teenager Charlie Newton, whose beloved Uncle Charlie may actually be the Merry Widow Killer. The film builds to an icy family dinner confrontation and a train-set survival scene that turns a suspicious death into a murder investigation. Hitchcock often called it his personal favorite, and it was co-written by Thornton Wilder. The title plays on the contrast between the ordinary American town and the sinister shadow cast by Uncle Charlie.

  • The 39 Steps — The 39 Steps is an Alfred Hitchcock film about Richard Hannay and a spy ring called the title organization. Its plot involves Annabella Smith, Professor Jordan, and the performer Mr. Memory.

  • Torn Curtain — Torn Curtain is Alfred Hitchcock’s Cold War thriller about an American scientist who pretends to defect to East Germany in order to steal missile secrets. Julie Andrews and Paul Newman star as the scientist and the secretary-fiancée who complicates his escape.

  • Vertigo — Hitchcock’s Vertigo stars James Stewart as detective Scottie Ferguson, whose fear of heights shapes a story of obsession, identity, and deception. Famous clues include the dolly zoom, the Mission San Juan Bautista bell tower, and Kim Novak’s Judy/Madeleine masquerade tied to Carlotta Valdes.
• Frank Capra — three-time Best Director Oscar winner; It Happened One Night (1934, first film to sweep the Big Five), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can’t Take It With You (1938, Best Picture), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). Italian-American director known for classical Hollywood comedies and dramas with idealistic protagonists and screwball romance.

  • Frank Russell Capra — Frank Capra was an Italian-American film director best known for It Happened One Night, Meet John Doe, and It’s a Wonderful Life. He also directed the wartime documentary series Why We Fight and later served as head of the Directors Guild of America.

  • Mr. Deeds Goes to Town — Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is a Frank Capra film starring Gary Cooper as Longfellow Deeds, a quiet man whose sanity is defended in court. The title character is a tuba player and the film became a classic example of Capra’s small-town idealism.

  • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington — Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is Frank Capra’s 1939 film about a naive senator played by James Stewart. The film builds to a famous filibuster and the exposure of political corruption involving Senator Paine and boss Jim Taylor.

    • Jefferson Smith — Jefferson Smith is the idealistic freshman U.S. senator at the center of Frank Capra’s 1939 film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. He is sent to Washington with a boys’ camp project, clashes with a corrupt political machine, and becomes famous for his filibuster on the Senate floor.

    • Senator Joseph Harrison Paine — Senator Joseph Harrison Paine is the fictional senator from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington who mentors Smith before being swayed by the Taylor machine. He is the senator played by Claude Rains.

  • Why We Fight — Why We Fight is Frank Capra’s World War II propaganda film series, including Prelude to War and Divide and Conquer. It contrasts the free world with the slave world and uses narration, animation, and enemy footage to justify American entry into the war.
• William Wyler — three-time Best Director winner; Wuthering Heights (1939), Mrs. Miniver (1942, Best Picture), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, Best Picture), Ben-Hur (1959, Best Picture). He was a major Hollywood director associated with long takes, deep focus, and repeated takes. He also directed Roman Holiday and other acclaimed films.

  • How to Steal a Million — How to Steal a Million is a 1966 heist comedy directed by William Wyler and starring Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole. The plot centers on a Paris art forgery scheme in which Simon Dermott helps Nicole Bonnet hide her father’s counterfeit sculpture from inspection.

  • The Best Years of Our Lives — The Best Years of Our Lives is William Wyler’s 1946 film about three World War II veterans returning to civilian life. Its ensemble includes Al Stephenson, Homer Parrish, and Fred Derry, and Harold Russell won an honorary Oscar and Best Supporting Actor for playing Homer.

  • Roman Holiday — Roman Holiday is the Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck film about a runaway princess spending a day in Rome with a reporter. Its famous scenes include the Vespa ride and the Mouth of Truth, and the title refers to a vacation in Rome.

• David O. Selznick — independent producer; Gone with the Wind (1939) and Rebecca (1940) both won Best Picture; known for elaborate productions and detailed memos to directors.

• Vincente Minnelli — MGM director of musicals and melodramas; Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), An American in Paris (1951, Best Picture), Gigi (1958, Best Picture); father of Liza Minnelli. He also directed The Band Wagon and The Bad and the Beautiful, and his films often feature elaborate set pieces and dream sequences.

• Singin’ in the Rain — 1952; directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. A Hollywood musical about the transition to synchronized sound, combining dance, comedy, and a reflexive account of filmmaking. Compare its staged numbers with the changing relations among camera, performer, recorded voice, and sound technology.² Its best-known moments include Gene Kelly’s title dance in a downpour, Donald O’Connor’s “Make ’Em Laugh,” and the dubbing plot involving Lina Lamont and Kathy Selden. It stars Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O’Connor, and includes the songs “Good Morning” and “Make ’Em Laugh,” centering on Don Lockwood, Kathy Selden, and Lina Lamont.

• Horse Feathers — Horse Feathers is a 1932 Marx Brothers comedy starring Groucho as Professor Wagstaff. Its plot involves Wagstaff and a series of misadventures centered on a rival football team.

• I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang — I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is a 1932 film about James Allen, a World War I veteran wrongfully convicted and brutalized by Georgia’s prison system. It became notorious for its attack on chain gangs and prison camps and helped inspire prison reform debate.

• Top Hat — Top Hat is the 1935 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical built around songs such as “Cheek to Cheek,” “Isn’t It a Lovely Day,” and “The Piccolino.” It is remembered for its elegant title dance and for the mistaken-identity romance between Jerry Travers and Dale Tremont.

• She Done Him Wrong — She Done Him Wrong is a 1933 film starring Mae West and Cary Grant. It adapts Diamond Lil and includes West’s famous line, “Why don’t you come up and see me sometime?”

• Everybody Comes to Rick’s — Everybody Comes to Rick’s is the play by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison that became the basis for Casablanca. Set around Rick’s nightclub, it features a Czech newspaper editor aided by a saloon keeper.

• Love Affair — Love Affair is the 1939 romance film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne. McCarey later remade it as An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. The 1994 film Love Affair also draws on the same story.

• Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing — This 1955 film stars Jennifer Jones as a Eurasian doctor and William Holden as a war correspondent whose affair ends in tragedy after the Korean War. It is adapted from Han Suyin’s autobiography and is remembered for the Oscar-winning title song, “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing.”

• Son of Frankenstein — Son of Frankenstein is the 1939 Universal horror sequel in which Basil Rathbone plays Wolf von Frankenstein. Bela Lugosi appears as Ygor, and the film also features the one-armed Inspector Krogh and Boris Karloff as the Monster.

• Cinderella
  • A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes — “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” is a song from Disney’s animated Cinderella. It is one of the film’s best-known songs and is often identified by title alone.

• The Wizard of Oz — The Wizard of Oz is the 1939 film and Baum novel about Dorothy Gale, the Yellow Brick Road, and the Emerald City. The story centers on the Wizard, whose stage magic and hidden identity contrast with the fantasy world of Oz.

• The Women — The Women is the 1939 film adaptation of Clare Boothe Luce’s play about New York socialites and divorcees. Its cast is famously all female, with no speaking male roles, and its plot centers on Mary Haines, Sylvia Fowler, and Crystal Allen.

• Angels with Dirty Faces — Angels with Dirty Faces is the 1938 crime film starring James Cagney as Rocky Sullivan. Its ending is famously ambiguous, as Rocky’s execution scene can be read either as genuine fear or a final attempt to discourage local boys from following his path.

• Cat People — Cat People is the Val Lewton film about Irena Dubrovna, who fears an ancient curse will make her turn into a panther. Jacques Tourneur’s original helped inspire later horror films, and Paul Schrader’s 1982 remake featured a David Bowie theme song.

• Gilda (film)
  • Gilda — Gilda is the 1946 film noir starring Rita Hayworth as the title woman opposite Glenn Ford. Its famous presentation of the character helped make Hayworth an icon of the genre. The name also belongs to the daughter of Rigoletto, the soprano role who sings “Caro nome” and dies by Sparafucile. Because the same title appears in both film and opera, the clue usually relies on the haywire hair-flip image or Verdi reference.

• Sorry, Wrong Number — Sorry, Wrong Number is the 1948 noir about an invalid named Leona Stevenson who overhears a telephone plot to commit murder. Barbara Stanwyck’s performance earned an Oscar nomination, and the film was directed by Anatole Litvak.

• The Blue Dahlia — The Blue Dahlia is a 1946 film noir with an original screenplay by Raymond Chandler. It stars Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake and centers on an ex-bomber pilot entangled in blackmail and murder at a nightclub.

• The Killing — The Killing is Stanley Kubrick’s 1956 crime film about Johnny Clay and a racetrack robbery that unravels after a chance mishap. Its bleak ending includes the execution of several soldiers to cover up the failure of General Mireau’s men, and it stars Sterling Hayden.

• The Last Will of Dr. Mabuse — A Fritz Lang film about the criminal legacy of the title character, whose notes are used to direct crimes from an asylum. It is known for the Hofmeister insanity scene and for its screenplay by Thea von Harbou. Lang later described it as an allegory of Hitler’s terror tactics.

• The Man Who Wasn’t There — The Man Who Wasn’t There is the Coen brothers’ 2001 black-and-white noir about barber Ed Crane, played by Billy Bob Thornton. Its plot involves blackmail, murder, and a doomed small-town affair, and quizbowl clues often mention the earlier unrelated 1983 comedy of the same title.

• Erich von Stroheim — Austrian-born filmmaker and actor who directed Greed and Queen Kelly. Greed was a lavish silent production famously shot in Death Valley and cut down against his wishes. He later appeared as Max, Norma Desmond’s butler, in Sunset Boulevard and as von Rauffenstein in La Grande Illusion; he was nominated for Sunset Boulevard.

• King Kong — King Kong is the giant ape from Skull Island who first climbed the Empire State Building in the 1933 RKO film. The character has appeared in multiple remakes and stage adaptations, including versions involving Fay Wray, Ann Darrow, and Jessica Lange.
  • Carl Denham — Carl Denham is the movie director in King Kong who captures the giant ape and exhibits him in New York. In the 2005 remake, the role was played by Jack Black, and Denham ends by blaming beauty rather than airplanes for killing the beast.

• The Negotiator — The Negotiator is a 1998 hostage thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson as Danny Roman and Kevin Spacey as Chris Sabian. Its plot centers on a police negotiator framed and trapped in a standoff while trying to expose corruption.

• The Other Side of the Wind — The Other Side of the Wind is Orson Welles’s long-delayed mockumentary about an aging film director’s final night. Filmed largely in the 1970s, it was completed and released in 2018 after decades in limbo.

• Fort Apache — Fort Apache is a John Ford Western set at a cavalry post in Indian Country. It stars John Wayne and Henry Fonda, with Fonda playing the stern Colonel Owen Thursday.

• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance — A 1962 John Ford western starring John Wayne and James Stewart. It centers on lawyer Ransom Stoddard, Tom Doniphon, and the killing of the outlaw Liberty Valance: Doniphon fires the fatal shot, but Stoddard receives the credit and becomes a political hero. The frame story follows Senator Stoddard’s return to Shinbone and the legend of who really killed Liberty Valance.

• The Quiet Man — The Quiet Man is John Ford’s Irish comedy-drama about an American ex-boxer who returns to Ireland, reclaims his homestead, and falls in love with Maureen O’Hara’s character. It won Ford his fourth and final Best Director Oscar. Quizbowl clues often mention Sean Thornton, the rural village setting, and supporting players like Barry Fitzgerald and Ward Bond.

• An Affair to Remember — An Affair to Remember is Leo McCarey’s 1957 romance starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. The lovers meet on a transatlantic cruise and vow to reunite atop the Empire State Building, making the film a famous source for Sleepless in Seattle.

• An American Werewolf in London — An American Werewolf in London is John Landis’s 1981 horror-comedy about two Americans attacked on the Yorkshire moors. It is famous for its transformation effects and for winning the first Academy Award for Best Makeup.

• An Officer and a Gentleman — A 1982 romance film about Zack Mayo at Aviation Officer Candidate School. It stars Richard Gere, Debra Winger, and Louis Gossett Jr.; Gossett plays Sgt. Emil Foley, a role that won him an Academy Award. The film is remembered for its climactic factory sequence.

• Die Hard — Die Hard is the 1988 action film in which John McClane fights Hans Gruber and terrorists inside Nakatomi Plaza. The movie stars Bruce Willis and was adapted from Roderick Thorp’s novel Nothing Lasts Forever.

  • “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker” — “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker” is John McClane’s signature one-liner from the Die Hard films. The line is echoed by Hans Gruber before his death and has been parodied in later comedy sketches and sequels.

  • Die Hard with a Vengeance — The third Die Hard film, reuniting director John McTiernan with Bruce Willis. Set in New York City, it pairs John McClane with Zeus Carver, played by Samuel L. Jackson, in a Simon Says-style bomb-threat chase involving puzzle-solving.

  • Hans Gruber — Hans Gruber is the German criminal mastermind in Die Hard, played memorably by Alan Rickman. He poses as a hostage, drops the line about being an “exceptional thief,” and is ultimately defeated by John McClane; a different Hans Gruber also appears in Our Man Flint.

  • John McClane — John McClane is Bruce Willis’s action hero from the Die Hard films, including Live Free or Die Hard. He is known for surviving impossible escapes and for the line of films built around his clashes with terrorists and criminals.

  • Live Free or Die Hard — Live Free or Die Hard is the 2007 action sequel in which Bruce Willis returns as John McClane and Timothy Olyphant plays the main terrorist villain. It is the fourth Die Hard film, also featuring Justin Long and Kevin Smith as a hacker.

  • Nakatomi Plaza — Nakatomi Plaza is the fictional Los Angeles office tower where Die Hard is set. The building is associated with the Fox Plaza filming location and with the fictional Nakatomi Corporation.

• Ernst Lubitsch — Ernst Lubitsch was the German émigré director famous for his sophisticated comic “touch,” visible in films like Ninotchka and To Be or Not to Be. His movies often use visual innuendo and elegant set pieces, from Trouble in Paradise to the makeover sequence in Ninotchka.
  • The Shop Around the Corner — The Shop Around the Corner is Ernst Lubitsch’s 1940 romantic comedy about two coworkers who fall in love through anonymous correspondence. It was later remade as You’ve Got Mail.

• Joseph Mankiewicz — Joseph Mankiewicz was a film director and screenwriter best known for A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve. He also directed Sleuth, where the name Joseph appears as a joke in the cast of characters.

• Preston Sturges — Preston Sturges was an American writer-director of rapid-fire screwball comedies and a major studio-era comedy auteur with a recognizable stock company of character actors. His films include Sullivan’s Travels, The Lady Eve, The Palm Beach Story, and Unfaithfully Yours. He also wrote the screenplays for The Good Fairy and Easy Living, and sold The Great McGinty to Paramount for a token fee on the condition that he direct it. Sullivan’s Travels centers on the title character’s comic pilgrimage.

  • Lady Eve — Preston Sturges’s The Lady Eve is a screwball comedy in which Barbara Stanwyck’s card sharp Jean Harrington romances the wealthy snake-obsessed Charles Pike. The film centers on deception, shipboard flirtation, and the revelation that the title aristocrat and Jean are the same woman.

  • The Palm Beach Story — The Palm Beach Story is Preston Sturges’s 1942 screwball comedy about a couple entangled with wealthy eccentrics on the way to Florida. It features Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, and Rudy Vallee, along with the millionaire John D. Hackensacker III.

  • Sullivan’s Travels — Preston Sturges’s Sullivan’s Travels is a 1941 comedy about a Hollywood director who wants to make a serious social film but goes traveling in disguise to research poverty. Its title character has previously made broad comedies, and the film is especially remembered as the source of the title of O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

• Alfred Joseph Hitchcock — Alfred Hitchcock was the British director of Psycho, Vertigo, The Birds, and many other suspense films. He also hosted the television anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, remembered for its Gounod theme.

• Ed Wood — American cult film director notorious for extremely low-budget films that became famous for being badly made, especially Plan 9 from Outer Space, Glen or Glenda, and Bride of the Monster. His films were known for flimsy special effects and odd casting choices, and he is remembered for reviving Bela Lugosi’s career. Tim Burton later dramatized his life in the biopic Ed Wood, starring Johnny Depp.

  • Bride of the Monster — An Ed Wood film starring Bela Lugosi and Tor Johnson. Lugosi plays a mad scientist who tries to create atomic supermen. The film is notorious for its low-budget production, cult reputation, rubber octopus showdown, and for being Lugosi’s last speaking role.

  • Glen or Glenda — Ed Wood’s 1953 semi-autobiographical film about transvestism and gender confusion, inspired by the Christine Jorgensen story. It features Bela Lugosi and was associated with alternate or planned titles including The Transvestite, I Changed My Sex, I Led Two Lives, and He or She.

  • The Sinister Urge — The Sinister Urge is an Ed Wood film about smut pictures and pornography. It also shares its title with a Rob Zombie album that includes songs like “Dead Girl Superstar” and “Scum of the Earth.”

• Ida Lupino — Ida Lupino was an actress and director known for playing tough women in film noir and for becoming one of Hollywood’s most important female directors. Her directing work included The Hitch-Hiker, The Bigamist, Outrage, and The Trouble with Angels. She is often noted as the only woman to direct a classic noir film.

• Nicholas Ray — Nicholas Ray was the American director of Rebel Without a Cause, Johnny Guitar, and In a Lonely Place. His films are frequently identified by youthful rebellion, stylized violence, and Joan Crawford’s saloon defense in Johnny Guitar. He is especially associated with the 1955 film that ends at Griffith Observatory and with James Dean’s signature role in Rebel Without a Cause.
  • Rebel Without a Cause — Rebel Without a Cause is Nicholas Ray’s 1955 film about troubled teenagers and suburban alienation. James Dean stars as Jim Stark, whose conflicts lead to the famous chickie-run and the Griffith Observatory scenes. The film also features Sal Mineo as Plato and Natalie Wood as Judy, and its title became a landmark of teen-rebellion cinema.
• North by Northwest — Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 spy thriller stars Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill, who is mistaken for the nonexistent George Kaplan and hunted across the United States. Eva Marie Saint also stars, and the film’s signature scenes include the crop-duster attack, the opening skyscraper title sequence, and the Mount Rushmore climax.

  • George Kaplan — George Kaplan is the nonexistent man whose identity Roger Thornhill is mistaken for in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. Clues usually point to the crop-duster attack, the Mount Rushmore climax, and the fake UN-diplomat plot that frames the film’s spy-thriller premise.

  • Roger Thornhill — Roger Thornhill is the advertising executive mistaken for the non-existent George Kaplan in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. He is chased across the United States, including the crop-dusting attack, the train and hotel sequences, and the climax at Mount Rushmore, while pursuing Eve Kendall.

• Spellbound — Spellbound is Alfred Hitchcock’s 1945 psychological thriller about amnesia, psychoanalysis, and a mistaken identity played by Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman. The film is especially remembered for Salvador Dalí’s dream sequence and for Dr. Constance Petersen’s attempt to uncover the truth about Dr. Edwardes.

• Strangers on a Train — Strangers on a Train is the Alfred Hitchcock thriller about Bruno Anthony proposing a murder swap with tennis player Guy Haines. Its memorable scenes include the lighter inscribed “A to G,” the tennis-match cross-cutting, and the finale on an out-of-control carousel. Other clues involve Miriam’s murder in reflection and Bruno’s unsettling behavior around eyeglasses and demonstration killings. The title comes from the chance meeting on a train that sets the plot in motion.
  • Farley Granger grapples with Robert Walker on a merry-go-round — The scene of Farley Granger grappling with Robert Walker on a merry-go-round points to Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train. The image is one of the film’s most famous suspense sequences.

• The Man Who Knew Too Little — The Man Who Knew Too Little is a 1997 comedy spoof starring Bill Murray as a man who mistakes a real spy caper for improvisational theater. Its title parodies Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much.

• The Man Who Knew Too Much — Alfred Hitchcock thriller about witnesses to an assassination plot at Albert Hall and the kidnapping of a child. It first starred Peter Lorre, Leslie Banks, and Edna Best in a 1934 version, and was remade in 1956 with James Stewart and Doris Day; it is best known for Doris Day’s “Que Sera, Sera.” The title was also used for a G. K. Chesterton story collection.

• To Catch a Thief — To Catch a Thief is Alfred Hitchcock’s French Riviera caper starring Cary Grant as former cat burglar John Robie and Grace Kelly as Frances Stevens. Its plot follows a string of jewel thefts and culminates in a rooftop chase and a costume ball revelation.

• It’s a Wonderful Life — It’s a Wonderful Life is Frank Capra’s 1946 Christmas film about George Bailey, Clarence the angel, and an alternate Bedford Falls. Clues often mention the Bailey Brothers’ Building and Loan, Mr. Potter, Harry Bailey, and the famous swimming-pool dance scene.

  • Bedford Falls — Bedford Falls is the fictional New York town in It’s a Wonderful Life, the place that becomes Pottersville in the film’s alternate reality. It is remembered as the home of George Bailey, Uncle Billy, and Zuzu Bailey.

  • Clarence — Clarence is the angel in It’s a Wonderful Life who shows George Bailey an alternate reality to prove that his life matters. The film is a Christmas staple centered on Bailey’s Bedford Falls bank, Mr. Potter, Uncle Billy, and the familiar wing-earning ending.

  • Clarence Odbody — Clarence Odbody is the angel from It’s a Wonderful Life who shows George Bailey what life would be like if he had never been born. The character appears in later adaptations and is played by Henry Travers in the classic film.

  • George Bailey — George Bailey is the Jimmy Stewart character in It’s a Wonderful Life, the Bedford Falls man whose troubles trigger Clarence’s intervention. The film centers on his sacrifices for family and neighbors, including Mary Hatch, Mr. Gower, and Harry Bailey.

  • Harry Bailey — Harry Bailey is the younger brother in It’s a Wonderful Life, where he is rescued from a frozen pond by George and later becomes a war hero. The name is also shared with Harry Bailly, the innkeeper and host of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The film character is portrayed as a Medal of Honor recipient who saves a transport ship during World War II.

  • Clarence Oddbody — Clarence Oddbody is the guardian angel who helps George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life. He is a second-class angel whose final reward is earning his wings.

• Judgment at Nuremberg — Judgment at Nuremberg is Stanley Kramer’s 1961 courtroom drama about the Nazi war crimes trials. It stars Spencer Tracy and Maximilian Schell, with Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland in supporting roles.

• Delmer Daves
  • 3:10 to Yuma — 3:10 to Yuma is a 1957 western about a rancher escorting outlaw Ben Wade to a prison train. Delmer Daves directed the original film, which James Mangold remade in 2007 with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.

• Diggstown — Diggstown is a boxing scam film starring James Woods and Louis Gossett Jr. Its plot involves a con game built around an aging boxer trying to win money by defeating a string of opponents.

• Don Siegel
  • The Shootist — This final John Wayne western follows J.B. Books, a cancer-stricken gunfighter who comes to town expecting one last duel. It ends with Books dying after a shootout at the Metropole saloon, making the film a famous coda to Wayne’s career.
• Elia Kazan — Elia Kazan was the director of A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, and A Face in the Crowd. He is also remembered for testifying before HUAC and for discovering major stage and screen actors such as Marlon Brando.
  • On the Waterfront — On the Waterfront is Elia Kazan’s 1954 film about longshoreman Terry Malloy, played by Marlon Brando. It is famous for the “I coulda been a contender” speech, its HUAC subtext, and Leonard Bernstein’s score.
• George Stevens — George Stevens was a film director known for A Place in the Sun, Giant, Shane, and The Diary of Anne Frank. He is also associated with long takes and a career that shifted away from comedies after wartime filming.

  • A Place in the Sun — A Place in the Sun is the 1951 George Stevens film starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, and Shelley Winters. Its plot follows a poor drifter whose affair and pregnancy complications lead to murder, trial, and tragedy, and it is based on Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.

  • Shane — Shane is the 1953 George Stevens western about a title gunfighter who becomes attached to the Starrett family and is played by Alan Ladd. Its best-known villain is Jack Wilson, played by Jack Palance, and the ending centers on Shane’s duel with Wilson and the Ryker brothers.

  • The Greatest Story Ever Told — The Greatest Story Ever Told is George Stevens’s 1965 epic retelling of the life of Jesus Christ. Max von Sydow plays Jesus, and John Wayne appears in a cameo as a centurion.

  • Woman of the Year — Woman of the Year is the George Stevens film that stars Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in their first pairing. Hepburn later won a Tony for the stage musical adaptation.

• Michael Curtiz — Michael Curtiz was a Hungarian-born Warner Bros. director who made Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and White Christmas. Early in his career, he worked in Europe before becoming a studio-era mainstay in Hollywood. He is also remembered for other classics such as Mildred Pierce and The Sea Hawk.

  • The Adventures of Robin Hood — The Adventures of Robin Hood is Michael Curtiz’s Technicolor swashbuckler starring Errol Flynn as the outlaw hero. Its clues highlight Howard Hill’s stunts, Olivia de Havilland as Marian, and Erich Korngold’s celebrated score.

  • Casablanca — The 1942 Michael Curtiz film set in the Moroccan city of Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine and Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund. It centers on Rick’s Cafe, the letters of transit, Major Strasser, “As Time Goes By,” “La Marseillaise,” and the line “Here’s looking at you, kid,” and ends with a foggy runway departure.

    • Ilsa Lund — Ilsa Lund is Ingrid Bergman’s character in Casablanca, remembered as Rick Blaine’s lost love. She is the woman who asks Sam to play the forbidden song and is often identified by her Norwegian backstory and the alternate surname Lazlo. The role is one of Bergman’s most famous.

    • Rick Blaine — Rick Blaine is the cynical American proprietor of Rick’s Café Américain in Casablanca. He is the Bogart character tied to the letters of transit, “round up the usual suspects,” and the film’s famous “beautiful friendship.”

    • The Blue Parrot — The Blue Parrot is the rival nightclub in Casablanca, run by Signor Ferrari. It is one of the key hangouts contrasted with Rick’s Café Américain in the film’s nightclub scene.

    • Victor Laszlo — Victor Laszlo is the Czech resistance leader in Casablanca, played by Paul Henreid. He is the husband of Ilsa Lund, whose reunion with Rick creates the film’s central conflict.

• George Cukor — George Cukor was a Hollywood director known for The Philadelphia Story, My Fair Lady, Adam’s Rib, and A Star Is Born. He was closely associated with Katharine Hepburn and was briefly attached to The Wizard of Oz before Victor Fleming replaced him.

  • Adam’s Rib — Adam’s Rib is the 1949 George Cukor comedy in which Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn play married lawyers on opposite sides of a shooting case. The film turns the trial into a screwball debate about gender equality, with Hepburn’s Amanda Bonner defending the woman who shot her husband.

  • Something’s Got to Give — Something’s Got to Give is the unfinished 1962 Marilyn Monroe film that Cukor directed and that was meant to remake My Favorite Wife. Its production was famously derailed by Monroe’s death before filming could be completed.

  • Sylvia Scarlett — Sylvia Scarlett is a 1935 George Cukor film based on a Compton Mackenzie novel. Katharine Hepburn plays a woman who disguises herself as a man, opposite Cary Grant, who appears in one of his early major roles.

• Mission to Moscow — Mission to Moscow is a 1943 Michael Curtiz film based on the memoirs of Joseph E. Davies. It was controversial for its pro-Soviet whitewashing during the wartime alliance with the USSR.

• Stanley Kramer — Stanley Kramer was an American filmmaker, producer, and film director known for socially conscious “message movies.” His films include Not As a Stranger, The Defiant Ones, On the Beach, Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. He also produced stage and screen projects including The Caine Mutiny and Cyrano de Bergerac.

  • Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner — Stanley Kramer’s 1967 film about an interracial engagement that forces the Draytons to confront their own liberal ideals. It stars Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, and Sidney Poitier; Tracy and Hepburn play the parents, and Poitier plays the daughter’s fiancé. It is one of Hollywood’s most famous social dramas.

  • It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World — It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is Stanley Kramer’s 1963 ensemble comedy about strangers racing to recover stolen money. The film is remembered for its huge cast, broad slapstick, and the buried cash under the four palm trees shaped like a W.

  • The Defiant Ones — The Defiant Ones is the 1958 film that pairs Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis as escaped prisoners chained together. Its racial tension and forced cooperation make it a landmark drama about two men who must survive while linked by handcuffs.

• The Philadelphia Story — The Philadelphia Story is the 1940 romantic comedy about Tracy Lord, her ex-husband C. K. Dexter Haven, and the reporters who invade her wedding plans. It later inspired High Society, and questions often mention its Spy magazine framing in the original film’s later cultural echoes.

• The Pride of the Yankees — The Pride of the Yankees is the 1942 film biography of Lou Gehrig, starring Gary Cooper as the New York Yankees first baseman. It follows Gehrig from his Columbia days through his marriage, his fame as the “Iron Horse,” and his farewell speech about being the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.

• Douglas Sirk — Douglas Sirk was a German-born director of glossy 1950s Hollywood melodramas, often starring Rock Hudson. His films include All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind, and Imitation of Life, and later directors such as Todd Haynes and Fassbinder paid homage to him.
  • All That Heaven Allows — All That Heaven Allows is a 1955 Douglas Sirk melodrama starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. The film centers on a wealthy widow whose relationship with a younger gardener becomes scandalous to her family and community.

• Minnelli — Minnelli is the surname of Vincente Minnelli, the film director who made musicals such as An American in Paris and Meet Me in St. Louis. It is also the surname of his daughter Liza Minnelli, who became famous for playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret.

• Delbert Mann
  • Marty — Marty is the 1955 film about a lonely Bronx butcher whose tentative romance with Clara won both the Palme d’Or and the Best Picture Oscar. It was directed by Delbert Mann from a Paddy Chayefsky script and stars Ernest Borgnine.

• Dinner at Eight — Dinner at Eight is a 1933 George Cukor film and also a stage play about socialite dinner guests and the people around them. Its ensemble includes Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Jean Harlow, and Billie Burke.

• Flying Down to Rio — Flying Down to Rio is the 1933 musical that introduced Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as a screen pairing. The film features the Carioca number and a plot involving performers headed to Rio de Janeiro.

• Frank Tashlin — Frank Tashlin was an animator and comedy director who later made films for Jerry Lewis and Jayne Mansfield. His best-known movies include The Girl Can’t Help It, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, and Son of Paleface.

• Franklin J. Schaffner — Franklin J. Schaffner was a film director known for major studio productions such as Planet of the Apes, Papillon, and The Boys from Brazil. His career is especially associated with large-scale Hollywood cinema.
  • Patton — Patton is the 1970 biopic of World War II General George S. Patton, starring George C. Scott. The film is famous for its opening speech before the American flag and for Scott’s refusal of the Oscar.
• Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films
  • The Gay Divorcee — The Gay Divorcee is the 1934 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical built around a divorce scheme and mistaken romance. It features songs such as “Night and Day” and “The Continental,” and helped launch the pair’s celebrated film collaborations.
• Fred M. Wilcox — Fred M. Wilcox was a film director best known for Lassie Come Home and other Lassie films. He also directed Forbidden Planet.
  • Forbidden Planet — Forbidden Planet is a 1956 science-fiction film loosely based on The Tempest and set on Altair IV. It introduced Robby the Robot and centers on Dr. Morbius, the Krell, and a monster generated by the mind.
• Fred Zinnemann — Fred Zinnemann was an Austrian-American film director known for High Noon, From Here to Eternity, A Man for All Seasons, and The Day of the Jackal. His early films include The Search and The Men, and his work spans westerns, war films, and historical dramas.
  • High Noon — Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon is a real-time Western about Marshal Will Kane, played by Gary Cooper, who is abandoned by the townspeople as Frank Miller’s gang approaches Hadleyville. It is remembered for Grace Kelly, Katy Jurado, and the song “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’,” and it inspired John Wayne and Howard Hawks’s Rio Bravo response. A famous Solidarity campaign poster in Poland reused a still from the film, turning Kane into a symbol of resistance.

• Funny Face — Funny Face is the 1957 Audrey Hepburn musical in which a fashion editor tells everyone to think pink and Hepburn’s character becomes a model in Paris. The film’s title sequence was designed by Richard Avedon.

• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes — Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a 1953 musical comedy based on Anita Loos’s novel, starring Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee and Jane Russell as Dorothy Shaw. It is remembered for the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.”

• Josef von Sternberg — Josef von Sternberg was an Austrian-American film director best known for his collaborations with Marlene Dietrich. His films include The Blue Angel, Morocco, Underworld, The Scarlet Empress, and Anatahan.

  • The Last Command — The Last Command is a 1927 film by Josef von Sternberg starring Emil Jannings as a fallen imperial Russian general. Its story centers on his humiliation after the Russian Revolution and on a former enemy who hires him to reenact it.

  • The Blue Angel — Josef von Sternberg’s 1930 German film adaptation of Heinrich Mann’s Professor Unrat, following the downfall of schoolteacher Immanuel Rath after he becomes obsessed with the cabaret performer Lola-Lola/Lola Lola; it made Marlene Dietrich famous in the title role. The title also appears in Francine Prose’s satirical novel about a creative-writing professor and sexual harassment.

• Mervyn LeRoy
  • Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo — Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a 1944 war film about the Doolittle Raid, directed by Mervyn LeRoy. It stars Van Johnson and Spencer Tracy in dramatizing the mission and its aftermath.
• MGM musicals
  • Anchors Aweigh — Anchors Aweigh is the 1945 nautical musical comedy in which Gene Kelly dances with Jerry Mouse. The film is one of the classic MGM musicals linked to Tom and Jerry animation.

• Ninotchka — Ninotchka is the Ernst Lubitsch comedy starring Greta Garbo as a Soviet envoy sent to Paris. The film is remembered for Garbo’s rare comic performance, the famous line about “Garbo laughs,” and its satire of capitalism and Soviet rigidity. It centers on three Russians trying to sell confiscated jewelry.

• Pillow Talk — Pillow Talk is the 1959 romantic comedy starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson. It centers on a party line, mistaken identity, and the rivalry-turned-romance between an interior decorator and a songwriter.

• Song of the South — Song of the South is Disney’s 1946 hybrid live-action and animated film featuring Uncle Remus and the song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.” It has long been criticized for racist stereotypes and has never received an official re-release, even though Splash Mountain was based on it.
  • Splash Mountain — Splash Mountain is a Disney log-flume ride themed to the story of Br’er Rabbit and Song of the South. Its signature drop sends riders into the briar patch after a long, cheerful float that became one of the park’s best-known attractions.
• Stanley Donen
  • Charade — Charade is the 1963 Stanley Donen film that pairs Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in a Paris-set mystery-comedy thriller. Its plot involves stolen money, mistaken identities, and James Coburn in one of his early roles, and the film later fell into the public domain because of a credit typo.

• Stormy Weather — Stormy Weather is a 1943 musical built around the title song, with Lena Horne and Bill Robinson among its stars. Its most famous sequence features the Nicholas Brothers’ acrobatic tap dance to “Jumpin’ Jive.”

• The Odd Couple
  • Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau — In The Odd Couple, Jack Lemmon played Felix Unger and Walter Matthau played Oscar Madison.

• The Party — The Party is Blake Edwards’s 1968 comedy starring Peter Sellers as the hapless Indian actor Hrundi V. Bakshi. After ruining a film shoot, Hrundi is mistakenly invited to a Hollywood party, where his clumsiness unleashes escalating slapstick chaos.

• The Pink Panther — The Pink Panther is the comedy film franchise built around Inspector Clouseau and the theft of the title jewel. The series also includes the famous jazz theme by Henry Mancini and later revivals such as the 2006 Steve Martin reboot.
  • Inspector Jacques Clouseau — Inspector Jacques Clouseau is the bumbling French detective from The Pink Panther films, most famously played by Peter Sellers. He is repeatedly thwarted by his own incompetence, harassed by Chief Inspector Dreyfus, and dogged by his manservant Cato. He is especially associated with the Peter Sellers versions and the sequel The Pink Panther Strikes Again.
• The Sound of Music

  • Kurt von Trapp — Kurt von Trapp is one of the children in The Sound of Music. He is the 11-year-old who is described as incorrigible and impresses guests with a high falsetto in “So Long, Farewell.”

  • Maria Rainer — Maria Rainer is the novice who becomes governess to the von Trapp children in The Sound of Music. She sings songs such as “My Favorite Things” and is the subject of the nuns’ complaint in “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?”

• The Terminator — The Terminator is a 1984 science-fiction film about a cyborg sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor before her son John is born. It is remembered for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s line “I’ll be back” and for Kyle Reese being sent to protect Sarah.

  • Cyberdyne Systems Corporation — Cyberdyne Systems Corporation is the fictional company in the Terminator series that develops Skynet. Its offices are destroyed in Terminator 2 in an effort to prevent the rise of the machines.

  • I’ll be back — “I’ll be back” is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature line from The Terminator, famously delivered before the machine returns to a police station by car. The phrase became one of his recurring catchphrases in later roles as well.

  • John Connor — John Connor is the son of Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese and the future leader of the human resistance in the Terminator series. In the films, he is portrayed by actors including Edward Furlong, Nick Stahl, Thomas Dekker, and Christian Bale.

  • Terminator — The Terminator is the science-fiction film series about Skynet, John Connor, and the machine assassin sent back through time. The word also names a concept in genetics, RNA transcription, lunar geography, and electronics, where it can mean the end point or a stopping device.

    • Sarah Connor — Sarah Connor is the central female character in the Terminator franchise and the central human viewpoint character in the Terminator films. She is the mother of John Connor and is portrayed as a woman driven to paranoia and institutionalization by her belief that a robot from the future is hunting her son. She is associated with Kyle Reese and appears in later spinoff and film versions played by different actresses.

    • Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines — Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is the third film in the Terminator series, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800. It follows John Connor and introduces Kristanna Loken as the T-X.

  • Terminators — Terminators are Skynet’s robotic killing machines in the Terminator franchise, often sent to hunt John and Sarah Connor. Famous models include the T-800 and the liquid-metal T-1000, both associated with the film Judgment Day.

• The Wild One — The Wild One is the 1954 Marlon Brando film about Johnny Strabler and the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club terrorizing a small town. It was inspired by a motorcycle riot in Hollister, California.

• Things to Come — Things to Come is the 1936 film adaptation of H. G. Wells’s The Shape of Things to Come. It imagines future upheavals across periods such as 1940, 1970, and 2036.

• Victor Fleming — Victor Fleming was the director credited with The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind, two of the most famous films of 1939. He began in silent cinema and stunt work before directing films like Red Dust, Treasure Island, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

• Fantastic Voyage — Fantastic Voyage is the 1966 science-fiction film about a miniaturized submarine crew sent into a scientist’s body to repair his brain. Coolio’s “Fantastic Voyage” is a later song that samples Lakeside’s track of the same title.

• Field of Dreams — Field of Dreams is the 1989 baseball film in which Kevin Costner’s character hears the famous line, “If you build it, he will come.” Its Iowa cornfield location later hosted a Major League Baseball game at the site associated with the movie.
  • Terence Mann — Terence Mann is the reclusive writer in Field of Dreams, played by James Earl Jones. He is modeled on J. D. Salinger and is linked to the novel The Boat Rocker.
• Melodrama films
  • Dark Victory — Dark Victory is the 1939 melodrama about Judith Traherne, a wealthy woman who learns she is dying of a brain tumor after visiting Doctor Frederick Steele. The film stars Bette Davis and includes Humphrey Bogart in a supporting role.

• The Robe — This 1953 epic stars Richard Burton as a Roman soldier haunted after helping crucify Jesus, and it spawned Demetrius and the Gladiators. It was also the first film released in CinemaScope.

• The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! — The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! is a 1966 Cold War comedy about a Soviet submarine that runs aground off Massachusetts and sends a landing party ashore for help. Its cast includes Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Jonathan Winters, Brian Keith, and Alan Arkin.

• William Wellman
  • The Public Enemy — The Public Enemy is William Wellman’s 1931 gangster film about Tom Powers, a bootlegger who rises through crime and dies violently. It is famous for the grapefruit scene with James Cagney and Mae Clark, and for Jean Harlow’s early appearance.

Film Movements and Modern Cinema

Connect film movements to their historical settings and formal choices.

Major Movements

German Expressionism (1919–1933)

• Core aesthetic — distorted sets, extreme shadows, themes of madness and tyranny; influenced by Expressionist painting.

• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari — 1920; directed by Robert Wiene; the defining text; used painted distorted backdrops; proto-horror narrative structure. The film is Robert Wiene’s 1920 German Expressionist silent horror film about the hypnotist Dr. Caligari and the sleepwalker Cesare. It is framed as a tale within a tale about a mental patient, stars Conrad Veidt as Cesare, and is a signature work of Weimar cinema and silent horror.
  • Dr. Caligari — Dr. Caligari is the hypnotist and asylum figure from the German Expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. He controls the sleepwalker Cesare and has been read as an image of authoritarianism in German culture.
• Nosferatu — 1922; directed by F.W. Murnau; unauthorized Dracula adaptation; Count Orlok became iconic. It is a silent German Expressionist vampire film starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok. The story follows Orlok’s terror in Wisborg and ends with a plague-bearing ship and Ellen’s sacrifice. Its imagery of plague, shadows, and the vampire’s ascent up the staircase made it one of the foundational vampire films.
  • Count Orlok — Count Orlok is the vampire at the center of F. W. Murnau’s silent German Expressionist horror film Nosferatu. The film adapts Dracula loosely and is famous for Max Schreck’s performance and the plague-bearing ship that carries Orlok to Germany.
• Metropolis — 1927; directed by Fritz Lang; dystopian science fiction; elaborate sets; the robot Maria is a key image. Metropolis is Fritz Lang’s 1927 science-fiction film about a gigantic stratified city, robotic Maria, and the workers who labor underground. Its imagery and restored versions are famous for the Schüfftan process, the robot double of Maria, and the conflict between the elite pleasure city and the laboring masses.

  • Freder Fredersen — Freder Fredersen is the son of Joh Fredersen in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. He descends into the underground city and tries to bridge the gap between the ruling class and the workers.

  • Rotwang — Rotwang is the inventor in Metropolis who creates the Maria robot double. He is the classic mad scientist figure living in a crooked old house amid the city.

• Fritz Lang — later fled Nazi Germany; made M (1931, Peter Lorre) and The Big Heat (1953) in Hollywood. His full name was Friedrich Christian Anton Lang; he was an Austrian-German filmmaker associated with German expressionism and later film noir, and also directed Metropolis and the Dr. Mabuse films.
  • Dr. Mabuse — Dr. Mabuse is Fritz Lang’s recurring criminal mastermind and hypnotist, associated with conspiracy and schemes of domination across a German Expressionist film cycle. Films featuring him include Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, and The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse.

• Conrad Veidt — Conrad Veidt was a German film actor known for playing Cesare in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Gwynplaine in The Man Who Laughs. He also appeared in Casablanca and became one of early cinema’s signature expressionist performers.

• Robert Wiene — Robert Wiene was a German film director and former stage actor whose fame rests on the 1919 expressionist classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. After early success, his later films drew less admiration, and he eventually emigrated to Paris after the Nazi takeover. His other notable titles include Crown of Thorns and The Hands of Orlac.

• Friedrich Murnau — Friedrich Murnau was a German filmmaker born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe. He is known for Nosferatu, The Last Laugh, Sunrise, and his final film Tabu, and he died in a 1931 car crash.

• Pandora’s Box — Pandora’s Box is G. W. Pabst’s 1929 silent film adapted from Frank Wedekind plays and starring Louise Brooks as the tragic Lulu. The plot follows Lulu’s sexual scandal, murder of her husband, and eventual death at the hands of Jack the Ripper.

Soviet Montage (1920s)

• Lev Kuleshov — demonstrated the Kuleshov effect: the meaning of a shot is shaped by the shot that precedes it.

• Sergei Eisenstein — theorized and practiced rhythmic, dialectical montage; Strike (1925) was his first feature; Battleship Potemkin (1925), famous for the Odessa Steps sequence; October (Ten Days That Shook the World, 1928); Alexander Nevsky (1938). He also directed the two-part Ivan the Terrible, worked on an adaptation of An American Tragedy, and collaborated with Upton Sinclair on ¡Que viva México!.

  • Battleship Potemkin — Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 Soviet silent film about a naval mutiny aboard the battleship Potemkin and the massacre at Odessa. It is especially known for the Odessa Steps sequence with the baby carriage, the maggot-infested meat that helps spark the revolt, and its radical montage style; later re-scored versions include one by the Pet Shop Boys.

  • Ivan Groznyj — Ivan Groznyj, or Ivan the Terrible, is Sergei Eisenstein’s film about Ivan IV. It is known for its striking imagery, Prokofiev score, and the unfinished third part left after Eisenstein’s death.

  • October — October is Sergei Eisenstein’s 1927 film about the Bolshevik Revolution and the storming of the Winter Palace. It is also known by the subtitle Ten Days That Shook the World, from John Reed’s book.
    • Quest for Fire — Quest for Fire is Jean-Jacques Annaud’s 1982 film about an Ice Age tribe searching for a lost and vital resource. It is famous for its invented prehistoric language, which Anthony Burgess helped create, and for starring Ron Perlman and Rae Dawn Chong.

  • October: Ten Days that Shook the World — October: Ten Days that Shook the World is Sergei Eisenstein’s 1927 Soviet film about the Russian Revolution. It dramatizes the fall of the monarchy, the February events, and the rise of revolutionary power through highly symbolic montage and religious imagery.

  • Que Viva Mexico — Que Viva Mexico! is Sergei Eisenstein’s unfinished film about Mexico, originally funded by Upton Sinclair. The project was left incomplete after funding problems and later circulated in altered or reconstructed versions.

  • The Battleship Potemkin — The Battleship Potemkin is Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 silent film about a mutiny on a Russian warship. It is especially famous for the Odessa Steps sequence and for its influential montage techniques.
• Dziga Vertov — Man with a Movie Camera (1929); radical documentary/cine-essay without conventional narrative.
  • Man with a Movie Camera — Man with a Movie Camera is Dziga Vertov’s 1929 experimental documentary about Soviet city life. It is famous for self-reflexive editing, rapid montage, double exposure, and the appearance of the filmmaker’s crew in the process of making the film.
    • movie camera — A movie camera is the device that records motion pictures and is central to Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera. Clues include early silent-film gags, Dutch angles, and the camera being treated as an expressive object rather than just a recording tool.

• Vsevolod Pudovkin — Mother (1926); emphasized continuity montage building viewer identification.

• Alexander Dovzhenko — third major Soviet director alongside Eisenstein and Pudovkin; Earth (1930), a lyrical celebration of Ukrainian rural life; associated with poetic cinema.

• City Symphony films — a subgenre of 1920s avant-garde documentary depicting urban life through rhythmic editing; key examples include Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera (1929) and Walter Ruttmann’s Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (1927).

Italian Neorealism (1943–1952)

• Core tenets — location shooting (not studio sets), non-professional actors, focus on working-class life, post-war devastation.

• Roberto Rossellini — Rome, Open City (1945) launched the movement; Paisan (1946). Roberto Rossellini was an Italian neorealist director best known for Rome, Open City, Paisan, and Germany, Year Zero. He later made Stromboli with Ingrid Bergman and became one of the central figures of postwar Italian cinema; his marriage to Bergman famously drew scandal and produced their daughter Isabella Rossellini. His later work included austere historical films for television, and he is also associated with The Miracle and General Della Rovere.
  • Rome, Open City — Roberto Rossellini’s 1945 war film and key neorealist work about the Nazi occupation of Rome. It stars Anna Magnani and centers on the priest Don Pietro, whose resistance work is exposed and who is executed at the end, making him a martyr figure.
• Vittorio De Sica — Bicycle Thieves (1948), the movement’s most celebrated film; Umberto D. (1952). Italian neorealist director and a key figure in the movement; his films often center on ordinary people and the hardships of postwar life, and he frequently used nonprofessional actors and scripts by Cesare Zavattini. He was also associated with early landmark foreign-language Oscar winners such as Shoeshine and The Bicycle Thief.
  • Bicycle Thieves — Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 Italian neorealist film about poor father Antonio Ricci and his son Bruno searching postwar Rome for Antonio’s stolen bicycle. Antonio has lost his job hanging posters, and the bicycle’s loss threatens the family’s livelihood in ruined postwar Italy. The film is notable for its emotional ending and its use of nonprofessional actors.

• Luchino Visconti — Ossessione (1943) is considered a precursor; later moved toward operatic style.

• Cesare Zavattini — screenwriter and theorist; articulated Neorealist aesthetics.

• Anna Magnani — Italian actress; face of Neorealism; Rome, Open City (1945); won Academy Award for The Rose Tattoo (1955).

• Neorealist films
  • Umberto D. — Vittorio De Sica’s neorealist film follows an elderly retired office worker struggling to keep his dog and his dignity while facing eviction. The title character befriends the pregnant maid Maria, is hounded by his landlady, and becomes separated from Flike.

French New Wave / Nouvelle Vague (1958–1968)

• Origins — critics at Cahiers du Cinéma (Godard, Truffaut, Chabrol, Rivette, Rohmer) applied auteur theory and then became filmmakers.

• François Truffaut — The 400 Blows (1959, autobiographical debut); Jules and Jim (1962); Day for Night (1973, Best Foreign Film Oscar). He was a leading figure of the French New Wave, and many of his films revolve around romantic obsession, unstable relationships, and the recurring Antoine Doinel character. Other films include Shoot the Piano Player, Stolen Kisses, The Bride Wore Black, The Story of Adèle H., Fahrenheit 451, and the 1983 final film Confidentially Yours.

  • Antoine Doinel — Antoine Doinel is François Truffaut’s recurring alter ego, played by Jean-Pierre Léaud across five films beginning with The 400 Blows. He grows from a rebellious schoolboy into an adult through stories such as Stolen Kisses and Bed and Board. The character’s signature arc includes runaway youth, romantic tangles with Christine Darbon, and the famous freeze-frame ending on the seashore.

  • Day for Night — Day for Night is François Truffaut’s film about the making of a movie called Meet Pamela. The title refers to a filming technique, and the movie won Truffaut an Academy Award.

  • Shoot the Piano Player — This François Truffaut film stars Charles Aznavour as a pianist whose life spirals through gangsters, mistaken identities, and tragic violence.

  • The Green Room — The Green Room, or La Chambre verte, is François Truffaut’s film inspired by Henry James’s “The Altar of the Dead.” It centers on Julien Davenne and his memorial shrine to his dead wife.

• Jean-Luc Godard — Breathless (À bout de souffle, 1960); jump cuts, direct address, fragmented narrative; also Contempt (1963), Band of Outsiders (1964), Pierrot le Fou (1965). His films also include A Woman Is a Woman and Week End. Recurring names associated with his work include Anna Karina and Jean Seberg, and Michel is a notable character in Breathless. He is also known for abrupt stylistic breaks such as the silent dance-cafe sequence and the traffic-jam opening of Week End.

  • Pierrot le fou — Pierrot le fou is Jean-Luc Godard’s 1965 film about Ferdinand Griffon and Marianne Renoir, adapted loosely from Lionel White’s Obsession. Its bright color experiments, self-conscious gangster-movie tone, and explosive ending make it one of Godard’s best-known New Wave works.

  • Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux — Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux is a Jean-Luc Godard film starring Anna Karina as Nana, a prostitute whose life ends in tragedy. It is also known as My Life to Live and is structured as twelve tableaux.

• Agnès Varda — often credited as the “grandmother of the New Wave”; Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962); Vagabond (1985); her early film La Pointe Courte (1955) predates the movement. She was a French film director associated with the Left Bank of French cinema; she coined cinécriture for her approach to filmmaking. Later films include Faces Places, and her Black Panther documentary helped make her the oldest person ever nominated for an Oscar.
  • Cléo from 5 to 7 — Cléo from 5 to 7 is Agnès Varda’s New Wave film that follows a singer in real time as she waits for biopsy results. Its Parisian wanderings, soldier encounter, and final shift in mood make it one of the signature works of the Left Bank cinema.
• Jacques Demy — The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), entirely sung. Jacques Demy was a French New Wave director best known for the musicals The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort. His films often pair vivid color with music by Michel Legrand, and he was married to Agnès Varda.
  • Les Parapluies de Cherbourg — Les Parapluies de Cherbourg is Jacques Demy’s sung-through musical film with music by Michel Legrand. It follows Geneviève Emery, Guy Foucher, and a painful wartime separation tied to Guy’s drafting for Algeria.
• Alain Resnais — Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), Last Year at Marienbad (1961); associated with the Left Bank group. He was a French filmmaker whose films are marked by experimental storytelling and collaborations with writers such as Marguerite Duras and Alain Robbe-Grillet.

  • Hiroshima mon amour — Alain Resnais’s New Wave film, for which Marguerite Duras wrote the screenplay, centers on the brief affair between a French actress/woman and a Japanese architect/man in postwar Hiroshima. It opens with documentary images of the atomic bombing and turns the lovers’ relationship into a meditation on memory, historical trauma, and the actress’s earlier love in Nevers. The film is known for its nonlinear structure.

  • Mon oncle d’Amérique — Mon oncle d’Amérique is an Alain Resnais film shaped by Henri Laborit’s ideas about the reptilian brain and the inhibition of action. It links psychological stress and social conflict to a series of parallel stories about Janine, René, and Jean, each trapped by ambition or illness.

  • Providence — Providence is Alain Resnais’s English-language film about a dying novelist, Clive Langham, whose mind supplies the scenes of his final work. It is also the capital of Rhode Island, on Narragansett Bay, once a co-capital with Newport and later the state’s sole seat of government.

  • Last Year at Marienbad — Alain Resnais’s enigmatic 1961 film, written by Alain Robbe-Grillet, set in a labyrinthine hotel and famous for its dreamlike, puzzle-like narration, repeated phrases and images, and ambiguous recollection of a meeting at a spa hotel. Its surreal structure includes a game of nim, photographs, looping memory, and a man trying to persuade a woman they met the previous summer; it is a classic of the French New Wave’s experimental side.

• Éric Rohmer — Cahiers du Cinéma critic turned director; known for morality tales and conversation-driven films; “Six Moral Tales” series includes My Night at Maud’s (1969) and Claire’s Knee (1970). Born Jean-Marie Maurice Scherer, he later made seasonal films including A Tale of Springtime.

• Claude Chabrol — first Cahiers director to make a feature; Le Beau Serge (1958); specialized in Hitchcockian bourgeois thrillers; Le Boucher (1970).

• Jacques Rivette — long-form, improvisational work; Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974); La Belle Noiseuse (1991). French New Wave director and former Cahiers du cinéma critic. He made long, improvisational films such as Out 1 and was often marked by playful self-reference and extended running time.

• Cahiers du Cinéma — French film journal founded by André Bazin in 1951; the crucible of auteur theory and the New Wave; critics-turned-directors included Godard, Truffaut, Chabrol, Rivette, and Rohmer. It was founded in Paris in 1951 by Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Lo Duca, and André Bazin. It later published future New Wave directors such as François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Éric Rohmer, and Claude Chabrol, and is often credited with helping establish film criticism as a serious academic discipline.

• Jules et Jim — François Truffaut’s 1962 French New Wave film based on Henri-Pierre Roché’s novel. It centers on Catherine and the two title friends, whose relationship becomes a long love triangle across the First World War and ends tragically when Catherine drives her car into a river after their friendship is finally destroyed.

• The 400 Blows — François Truffaut’s debut feature and a landmark French New Wave film centered on Antoine Doinel. It follows Antoine’s escalating trouble with school and family, including his stealing a typewriter, before he is sent to a juvenile detention center and a work camp; it ends with Doinel’s famous freeze-frame escape.

• Alphaville — Alphaville is Jean-Luc Godard’s sci-fi film about a city run by a Borges-quoting supercomputer. Lemmy Caution enters that city, falls for Natacha, and helps destroy the system in a film once associated with the title Tarzan versus IBM.

• Breathless — Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 debut feature and landmark French New Wave film stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg. It follows Michel Poiccard, a small-time crook on the run after stealing a car and killing a policeman, who hides with Patricia Franchini before being betrayed and shot in the street. The film is known for its jump cuts, handheld style, and improvised feel.

• Contempt — Contempt is Jean-Luc Godard’s adaptation of Alberto Moravia’s A Ghost at Noon, centered on a screenwriter and his failing marriage in the world of film production. Its Capri setting, Fritz Lang cameo, and tense treatment of art versus commerce make it one of Godard’s best-known works of the 1960s.

• Godard — Godard is a surname associated with film, especially the work of Jean-Luc Godard and cinematographer Agnès Godard. Jean-Luc Godard’s films include the 1962 title that ends with Michel being shot by police in the street.

• Le Petit Soldat — Le Petit Soldat is a Jean-Luc Godard film starring Michel Subor as Bruno Forestier, a man caught in espionage and political violence. The film follows his torture, escape, and conflicted encounter with Arab agents and a possible informer played by Anna Karina.

• Weekend — Weekend is a common title for films and novels, including Jean-Luc Godard’s 1967 satire and Andrew Haigh’s 2011 romance. The word also appears in the title of The Lost Weekend, the Billy Wilder film about alcoholism.

• Publications
  • Les Cahiers du Cinéma — Les Cahiers du Cinéma is the influential French film magazine founded in 1951 by Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and André Bazin. Associated with the French New Wave, it was edited by figures such as Éric Rohmer, Jean Douchet, Jacques Rivette, and Serge Daney.

New Hollywood (1967–1980)

• Context — collapse of the studio system, the Hays Code replaced by the MPAA rating system (1968), young directors influenced by European cinema.

• Bonnie and Clyde — 1967; directed by Arthur Penn; graphic violence; marked the shift. Arthur Penn’s crime film about the real-life bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Its stylish violence, rapid editing, and climactic police ambush helped make it a landmark of the New Hollywood era.

• The Graduate — 1967; directed by Mike Nichols; Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack; generational alienation. It follows Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate who becomes entangled with Mrs. Robinson. The film is especially remembered for its Simon and Garfunkel songs, including “The Sound of Silence” and “Scarborough Fair,” and for Mr. McGuire’s advice to think about plastics. Its ending, in which Benjamin interrupts Elaine’s wedding and the two flee by bus, is iconic.
  • Mrs. Robinson — Mrs. Robinson is the older married woman in The Graduate who seduces Benjamin Braddock. She is also the subject of the Simon and Garfunkel song that asks, “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?”
• Easy Rider — 1969; directed by Dennis Hopper; low-budget counterculture landmark. It stars Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda as two bikers traveling toward Mardi Gras, and it ends with their deaths after a confrontation with hostile locals.
  • George Hanson — George Hanson is the lawyer played by Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider. He is one of the film’s most memorable supporting figures, associated with the biker road trip narrative.
• Francis Ford Coppola — The Godfather (1972, Best Picture, Best Actor for Brando, Best Adapted Screenplay); The Godfather Part II (1974, Best Picture); Apocalypse Now (1979). An American director whose work is associated with operatic crime drama, including the baptism montage in The Godfather and the helicopter attack in Apocalypse Now scored to “Ride of the Valkyries.”
  • Apocalypse Now — Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam War epic follows Captain Willard’s mission to find and kill Colonel Kurtz, adapting Heart of Darkness into a hallucinatory journey upriver. Famous clues include Kilgore’s “Ride of the Valkyries” helicopter attack, the napalm line, and the surreal opening over the ceiling fan. The film’s troubled production is itself legendary, and Hearts of Darkness documents that process.

    • Colonel Kurtz — Colonel Kurtz is the rogue Army officer from Apocalypse Now, a brilliant West Point graduate who disappears into Cambodia and builds a cult-like following at a temple. He is remembered for the monologue that includes “the horror, the horror” and the claim that horror has a face.

    • I love the smell of napalm in the morning — In Apocalypse Now, Colonel Kilgore delivers this boastful line while praising the smell of napalm after a napalm attack. It has been frequently parodied and quoted in later films and television.

  • The Conversation — The Conversation is Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 paranoid thriller about surveillance expert Harry Caul, played by Gene Hackman. It follows Caul’s obsession with a recorded exchange, and ends with him destroying his apartment while searching for a listening device.
• Martin Scorsese — Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990); long collaboration with Robert De Niro and later Leonardo DiCaprio. He is an American filmmaker known for detailed, kinetic filmmaking that helped define the modern gangster film, with signature use of rock or classical needle drops, voiceover crime worlds, and intense urban psychology. His work includes documentaries and concert films such as The Last Waltz, Public Speaking, Italianamerican, and Shine a Light, as well as Hugo (2011), about a boy and an automaton. He also founded the World Cinema Project and has been profiled in A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies.

  • Casino — Martin Scorsese’s 1995 crime film Casino stars Robert De Niro as gambling boss Sam “Ace” Rothstein, with Joe Pesci as Nicky Santoro and Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna. It centers on the casino world of Las Vegas and the corruption around a powerful owner like Terry Benedict.

  • Gangs of New York — Gangs of New York is a Martin Scorsese film set in the Five Points district of New York City during the Civil War era. It follows Amsterdam Vallon as he seeks revenge on Bill the Butcher, played by Daniel Day-Lewis.
    • Bill “The Butcher” Cutting — Bill “The Butcher” Cutting is the violent gang leader played by Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York. He is associated with the Dead Rabbits, Priest Vallon, Jenny Everdeane, and the Draft Riots of 1863.

  • Killers of the Flower Moon — Killers of the Flower Moon is Martin Scorsese’s 2023 film about the Osage murders in Oklahoma. It centers on Ernest Burkhart, William King Hale, and Mollie Kyle, whose insulin is poisoned as part of the conspiracy.

  • Kundun — Kundun is Martin Scorsese’s film about the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, tracing his life from childhood to exile. Philip Glass composed its orchestral score.

  • Mean Streets — Martin Scorsese’s 1973 crime film follows Charlie and Johnny Boy, young men in Little Italy trying to navigate crime, loyalty, and responsibility. It stars Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro, is Scorsese’s first collaboration with De Niro and Keitel, and is noted for its rock soundtrack and autobiographical style; it is often treated as an early precursor to Scorsese’s later mob films.

  • No Direction Home — No Direction Home is Martin Scorsese’s documentary about the early career of Bob Dylan. Its title comes from a Dylan song and from Robert Shelton’s earlier biography of Dylan.

  • The Color of Money — The Color of Money is Martin Scorsese’s 1986 sequel to The Hustler, starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise as pool hustlers. It follows Fast Eddie Felson’s mentorship of Vincent Lauria and helped boost interest in pool cues and hustling culture.

  • The Departed — The Departed is Martin Scorsese’s Boston-set crime film about undercover police, corruption, and a hidden mole inside the force. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Jack Nicholson, and won Scorsese his long-awaited Best Director Oscar.

  • The Irishman — The Irishman is Martin Scorsese’s 2019 crime film about Frank Sheeran, the Philadelphia mob, and the Teamsters. It is based on Charles Brandt’s I Heard You Paint Houses and dramatizes the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa.

  • The King of Comedy — The King of Comedy is Martin Scorsese’s dark comedy about Rupert Pupkin, a would-be stand-up who kidnaps talk-show host Jerry Langford. It is often contrasted with a later Chinese film of the same title and is remembered for Robert De Niro’s obsession with celebrity fame.
    • Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, and Sandra Bernhard — The trio of Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, and Sandra Bernhard points to Martin Scorsese’s film The King of Comedy. This appears to be a film-identification entry rather than a single-person topic.

  • The Last Waltz — The Last Waltz is Martin Scorsese’s concert documentary about The Band’s farewell performance as a quintet. The film also includes appearances by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Dr. John, and Emmylou Harris.

  • The Wolf of Wall Street — The Wolf of Wall Street is Martin Scorsese’s 2013 film about stockbroker Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Its excesses include quaaludes, Stratton Oakmont, and Belfort’s famous “Sell me this pen” sales routine.

  • Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore — Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is a 1974 Martin Scorsese film about a widow who works as a waitress while trying to pursue a singing career. It stars Ellen Burstyn and features Harvey Keitel as an abusive boyfriend; it later inspired the sitcom Alice.

  • Shutter Island — Shutter Island is Martin Scorsese’s 2010 film about a U.S. marshal investigating the disappearance of Rachel Solando at the title psychiatric institution. Its twist reveals that the protagonist is delusional and searching for the man he believes murdered his wife.
• Steven Spielberg — Jaws (1975) is often cited as the first modern blockbuster; Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977); Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); E.T. (1982); Schindler’s List (1993, 7 Oscars including Best Picture and Spielberg’s first Best Director). Steven Spielberg is an American film director associated with blockbuster entertainment and New Hollywood. He also directed Saving Private Ryan, Munich, and Lincoln, and has production credits on television projects such as Band of Brothers.
  • A.I. Artificial Intelligence — A.I. Artificial Intelligence is Steven Spielberg’s 2001 science-fiction film about a robotic boy named David and the world around him. The film features Jude Law as Gigolo Joe and explores a near-future society built around advanced androids.
    • A.I. — A.I. refers to the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence, the 2001 science-fiction drama centered on a child-like robot searching for the Blue Fairy. The other clue points to the three-toed sloth, which is also abbreviated A-I.

  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind — Close Encounters of the Third Kind is Steven Spielberg’s 1977 science-fiction film about human contact with extraterrestrials. It culminates at Devil’s Tower and features Richard Dreyfuss as Roy Neary. Questions on the title phrase itself may define close encounters as direct interactions with aliens rather than mere sightings. The film is a classic clue source for Francois Truffaut’s role and the UFO obsession imagery.

  • Duel — Duel is a 1971 film in which Dennis Weaver’s driver is terrorized by a battered tanker truck on isolated roads. The title also refers to a one-on-one combat event, as in works about lethal Russian duels such as Aleksandr Kuprin’s The Duel.

  • E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial — Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film about the stranded alien befriended by Elliott and wanting to “phone home.” It is famous for the bicycle flight scene and for its Atari tie-in game, notorious for poor gameplay and the mass burial of unsold cartridges in New Mexico, an emblem of the 1983 video game crash.

  • Jaws — Steven Spielberg’s 1975 thriller about a great white shark terrorizing Amity Island. It is known for the line “you’re gonna need a bigger boat,” the malfunctioning mechanical shark nicknamed Bruce, and its famous score and editing that helped make it a landmark summer blockbuster. The climax has Chief Brody destroy the shark by shooting an air tank.

    • Amity Island — Amity Island is the fictional New England resort island in Jaws, the setting for the shark attacks that drive the film’s plot. Police chief Martin Brody, oceanographer Matt Hooper, and Quint all become involved in protecting the town from the great white shark. The location was portrayed by Martha’s Vineyard in the film adaptations.

    • Jaws 2 — Jaws 2 is the first sequel to Jaws, with Roy Scheider returning as Martin Brody and Jeannot Szwarc taking over directing duties. It follows another great white shark attack, including a sequence involving teens stranded at sea.

    • Jaws: The Revenge — Jaws: The Revenge is the 1987 sequel to Jaws 3-D and centers on the Brody family after they leave Amity for the Caribbean. It is the notorious fourth film in the shark franchise and is often remembered for its absurd premise.

    • Quint — Quint is the shark hunter from Jaws, the hard-drinking fisherman who captains the Orca and dies after being eaten by the shark. He is remembered for his monologue about the USS Indianapolis and for the line about “swimmin’ with bow-legged women.”

    • Theme from Jaws — “Theme from Jaws” is John Williams’s ominous two-note motif for the shark thriller Jaws. It has been repeatedly parodied, including in Airplane! and other comic references to the shark attack theme.

  • The Post — The Post is the 2017 Steven Spielberg film about the Washington Post’s decision to publish the Pentagon Papers. It centers on Ben Bradlee and Katharine Graham and dramatizes the conflict between the paper’s public offering and the disclosure of the documents.

  • The Sugarland Express — The Sugarland Express is Steven Spielberg’s 1974 feature debut, starring Goldie Hawn and Ben Johnson. It follows a woman who helps her escaped-convict husband flee across Texas to recover their child.

  • The Terminal — The Terminal is Steven Spielberg’s 2004 film about Viktor Navorski, a traveler trapped in an airport because of turmoil in his home country, Krakozhia. It was loosely inspired by Mehran Karimi Nasseri, and it pairs Tom Hanks with a romance involving a flight attendant.

  • Saving Private Ryan — Saving Private Ryan is Steven Spielberg’s 1998 World War II film about Captain John Miller leading a mission to recover Matt Damon’s title character after the Normandy invasion. Its opening Omaha Beach sequence is one of the most famous depictions of the D-Day landings in film.
• George Lucas — American Graffiti (1973); Star Wars (1977) transformed the industry toward franchise blockbusters. He also wrote and directed THX 1138, founded Industrial Light & Magic and Lucasfilm, and drew on influences such as Akira Kurosawa, the Flash Gordon serials, and Joseph Campbell’s monomyth.
  • Star Wars

    • Boba Fett — Boba Fett is the armored Star Wars bounty hunter who tracks the Millennium Falcon to Cloud City and delivers Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt. Later stories have him escape the sarlacc pit and continue fighting as a feared mercenary.

    • Obi-Wan Kenobi — Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Jedi Master in Star Wars who trained Anakin Skywalker and later became Luke Skywalker’s mentor. A skilled swordsman, he defeated Darth Maul on Naboo and later faced Darth Vader in the original films. He appears later as the aged “Ben” Kenobi, and Alec Guinness played the older version in the 1977 film.

    • Admiral Ackbar — Admiral Ackbar is the Mon Calamari Rebel and New Republic commander from Star Wars, best known for the line “It’s a trap!” at the Battle of Endor. He commands from Home One and later appears in the Yuuzhan Vong era as a strategist and fleet leader.

    • Biggs Darklighter — Biggs Darklighter is Luke Skywalker’s Tatooine friend and a Rebel X-wing pilot in Star Wars. He is killed during the Death Star trench run after helping the Rebels attack the station.

    • Captain Lorth Needa — Captain Lorth Needa is the Imperial officer who commands the Star Destroyer Avenger during the hunt for the Millennium Falcon after Hoth. He apologizes to Darth Vader after losing track of the Falcon and is killed by Vader’s Force choke.

    • Characters
      • Wes Janson — Wes Janson is a Star Wars character who served as Wedge Antilles’s gunner in Rogue Squadron during the Battle of Hoth. He is remembered for landing the harpoon shot against the Imperial walker and for his cocky remark, “Nice shot!”

    • Darth Vader — Darth Vader is the masked Sith enforcer from Star Wars who later turns out to be Anakin Skywalker. He is associated with the Imperial march motif, the line “I am your father,” and the climactic redemption in Return of the Jedi.

    • Death Star
      • the first Death Star — The first Death Star is the Imperial battle station destroyed by Luke Skywalker in A New Hope after its thermal exhaust port was exploited with a proton torpedo. Its plans were tied to Galen Erso and the Stardust project, and the station included notorious locations such as the detention block and garbage compactor.

    • Detention Block AA-23 — Detention Block AA-23 is the Death Star holding area where Princess Leia is imprisoned in Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. It is the site of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker’s rescue of Leia, including the famous improvised exchange after the blast door opens.

    • Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back — Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is the Star Wars sequel set partly on Hoth and featuring the Rebel base’s destruction. It includes the Millennium Falcon’s flight to Bespin and the famous encounter with the space slug.

    • General Grievous — General Grievous is the four-armed cyborg commander of the Separatist forces in Star Wars Episode III and related Clone Wars material. He is known as a Jedi hunter who was killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi on Utapau.

    • Gold Leader — Gold Leader is the call sign of Lando Calrissian when he flies in Return of the Jedi. The name belongs to one of the Gold Squadron pilots in the original Star Wars films.

    • Greedo — Greedo is the Rodian bounty hunter from Star Wars who confronts Han Solo in the Mos Eisley cantina. In the Special Edition controversy, he is the character associated with the question of who shot first.

    • hyperdrive — A hyperdrive is the Star Wars engine that allows a ship to enter hyperspace and travel faster than light. It is famously associated with the Millennium Falcon and with various malfunctioning starships in the films.

    • Jabba the Hutt — Jabba the Hutt is the slug-like, obese Hutt crime lord from Tatooine and leader of the Desilijic crime family. He first became prominent in Return of the Jedi and is associated with Han Solo’s debt, bounty hunters such as Boba Fett and Greedo, and Princess Leia strangling him aboard his sail barge. He dies at the Great Pit of Carkoon during the escape attempt of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.

    • Lando Calrissian — Lando Calrissian is the smooth-talking gambler and entrepreneur from Star Wars who becomes Baron Administrator of Cloud City before joining the Rebellion. He is known for owning the Millennium Falcon before losing it to Han Solo in sabacc, and for later betraying Han to Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back.

    • lightsaber — A lightsaber is the energy blade weapon used by Jedi and Sith in Star Wars. It is powered by kyber crystals, can come in different colors and forms, and is described as an elegant weapon from a more civilized age.

    • Mace Windu — Mace Windu is a Jedi Master from Star Wars known for his purple lightsaber and for leading the Jedi High Council. He is killed when Darth Sidious throws him from a window during their duel in Episode III.

    • Original trilogy
      • Episode VI: Return of the Jedi — Episode VI of the original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi, follows the rescue of Han Solo and the final confrontation with the Empire. Its best-known clues include Boba Fett’s death in the Sarlacc pit and the Ewoks’ role in defeating Imperial forces on Endor.
        • Max Rebo Band — The Max Rebo Band is the jazz-funk ensemble that performs for Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi. Its lineup includes the blue keyboardist Max Rebo, with performers such as Sy Snootles and Droopy McCool appearing in the group.
    • Rogue One: A Star Wars Story — Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the 2016 Gareth Edwards film about stealing the plans to the Death Star. It stars Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso and Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, with Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwe.
      • Scarif — Scarif is the tropical planet in Rogue One where the Rebel raid on the Imperial data vault takes place. Its battle site holds the Death Star plans and includes the base whose destruction closes the story’s heist sequence.

    • Salacious Crumb — Salacious Crumb is the cackling Kowakian monkey-lizard who keeps company with Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi. He is remembered for his shrill laughter and for being shocked by R2-D2 after meddling with C-3PO.

    • Solo: A Star Wars Story — Solo: A Star Wars Story follows Han Solo’s theft of coaxium from Kessel and the revolt of enslaved workers there. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s droid L3-37 and the film’s criminal underworld setting are among its key identifying details.

    • Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith — Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is the final film of the prequel trilogy, set before A New Hope. It features Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side, Palpatine’s rise as Emperor, the execution of Order 66, and the origin of Darth Vader. Other memorable scenes include Palpatine’s opera-house conversation and Obi-Wan’s greeting “Hello there.”

    • Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope — George Lucas’s 1977 first Star Wars release follows Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Chewbacca, and the droids as they flee Tatooine, visit the Mos Eisley Cantina, and travel aboard the Millennium Falcon to confront the Empire. Luke helps destroy the first Death Star, giving the Rebels their original victory over the Empire, and Obi-Wan Kenobi dies at Darth Vader’s hands. It includes the line about “that’s no moon.”

    • Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back — Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is the second released Star Wars film, directed by Irvin Kershner. It features the Battle of Hoth, Han Solo’s freezing in carbonite, and Darth Vader’s revelation to Luke Skywalker that he is his father.

    • Star Wars: A New Hope
      • Swinging on a Star Wars — Swinging on a Star Wars is a wordplay title combining Bing Crosby’s “Swinging on a Star” with Star Wars: A New Hope. The clue points to the 1977 film title as the target of the mashup.
    • Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
      • Kamino — Kamino is the rainy ocean world where the clone army was grown for the Republic. It is identified with Tipoca City, Taun We, and the cloning of Jango Fett into the template for the clone troopers.
    • Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace — Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is the first prequel film, introducing the return of the saga to the big screen. It centers on the young Anakin Skywalker, the Trade Federation crisis, and the rise of Darth Maul.

      • Episode I: The Phantom Menace — Episode I: The Phantom Menace is the 1999 Star Wars film introducing Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. It includes scenes such as Jar Jar Binks’ adventures, Sebulba’s podracing threat, and other early prequel-era events.

      • Sabé — Sabé is the Naboo handmaiden who served as a decoy for Padmé Amidala in The Phantom Menace. She was portrayed by Keira Knightley, whose resemblance to Natalie Portman was used to enhance the deception.

    • Tatooine — Tatooine is the desert planet in Star Wars where Luke Skywalker was raised and where Anakin Skywalker grew up. It is home to Mos Eisley, the Boonta Eve podrace, the Sarlacc pit at the Great Pit of Carkoon, and moons such as Ghomrassen, Guermessa, and Chenini.

    • The Empire Strikes Back — The Empire Strikes Back is the second Star Wars film, released in 1980. It is known for Yoda’s line about size not mattering and for the film’s darker turn in the original trilogy.

      • Battle of Hoth — The Battle of Hoth is the opening ground-and-air battle on the snow-covered planet in The Empire Strikes Back. Imperial forces under General Maximilian Veers destroyed Echo Base’s shield generator while Rebel pilots used tow cables against AT-AT walkers.

      • Cloud City — Cloud City is the floating mining colony on Bespin in The Empire Strikes Back. It is remembered for Lando Calrissian’s betrayal, Han Solo’s capture, and Darth Vader’s reveal to Luke Skywalker.

      • Hoth — Hoth is the icy planet in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back where the Rebel Alliance established Echo Base. Its cold landscape is home to tauntauns, wampas, and other frozen-world hazards.

      • Rogue Two — Rogue Two is the callsign of Zev Senesca in The Empire Strikes Back. The name appears as an X-wing squadron designation in the Rebel forces.

      • wampa — A wampa is the snow beast that attacks Luke Skywalker and his tauntaun on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. The original trilogy special edition added shots of the creature in its cave with the carcass and the upside-down captive.

    • The Last Jedi — Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the 2017 eighth Star Wars film and a sequel to The Force Awakens. Directed by Rian Johnson, it sends Rey to find Luke Skywalker on Ahch-To and follows Finn and Rose’s trip to Canto Bight, where they meet DJ, played by Benicio del Toro, who betrays them to the First Order. It features Rey, Finn, Rose Tico, and Carrie Fisher’s final performance.

    • the Millennium Falcon — The Millennium Falcon is Han Solo’s famously modified Corellian freighter, known for the Kessel Run and for being heavily altered for smuggling and combat. Quiz clues often mention its ownership history, including Lando Calrissian and Unkar Plutt, as well as its appearances in the original trilogy and sequel era.

    • The Star Wars Holiday Special — The Star Wars Holiday Special is the infamous 1978 CBS television special built around Chewbacca’s trip home for Life Day. It is notorious for its awkward variety-show segments, including appearances by Art Carney, Bea Arthur, Diahann Carroll, Harvey Korman, and Jefferson Starship, and for the first appearance of Boba Fett.

    • TIE Fighter — The TIE Fighter is the Empire’s iconic Star Wars starfighter, recognizable for its spherical cockpit and twin solar panels. It lacks hyperdrive and shields in the standard version, making it a cheap mass-produced ship often launched from larger Imperial vessels.

    • Trade Federation — The Trade Federation is the Star Wars commerce guild that becomes a major Separatist power under Nute Gunray. It is remembered for blockading and invading Naboo and for its role in the opening events of the Clone Wars.

    • Utapau — Utapau is a Star Wars planet marked by huge sinkholes and underground cities. It is the site of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s duel with General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith.

    • Wedge Antilles — Wedge Antilles is a Rebel Alliance pilot in Star Wars who serves as commander of Rogue Squadron. He survives both Death Star missions, flies as Red Two at Yavin and Red Leader at Endor, is Luke Skywalker’s copilot during the Death Star trench run, and helps destroy the second Death Star near Endor. He also appears in the X-wing novels and is closely associated with Wes Janson.

    • X-Wing — The X-wing is the Rebel Alliance starfighter designated T-65, with twin deployed wings, four blaster cannons, and proton torpedo launchers. It is the iconic ship flown by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars and later appears as a small homemade model in fiction and fan settings.

    • X-Wing Alliance
      • Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance — Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance is the 1999 spaceflight game centered on Ace Azzameen and his family’s struggle against the Viraxo. It culminates in the Battle of Endor, including a mission piloting the Millennium Falcon into the second Death Star.

    • Yoda — Yoda is the diminutive Jedi Grand Master who trained Luke Skywalker on Dagobah after his duel with Darth Sidious. He is also associated with battles such as Geonosis and with the mantra “Do or do not, there is no try.”

    • Star Wars: The Force Awakens — Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the seventh Star Wars film and the 2015 installment that introduced Rey. It closes out the long run of Wilhelm scream appearances in the franchise, and includes Finn and Poe stealing a TIE fighter to escape the First Order.
  • THX 1138 — THX 1138 is George Lucas’s first feature film, a dystopian sci-fi story about a controlled society and a protagonist trying to escape. It grew out of Lucas’s student film Electronic Labyrinth and stars Robert Duvall.
• Robert Altman — MASH* (1970), Nashville (1975), Short Cuts (1993); overlapping dialogue, ensemble casts.

  • Dr. T and the Women — Dr. T and the Women is Robert Altman’s ensemble film about gynecologist Richard Gere and the women around him. Its cast includes Helen Hunt, Farrah Fawcett, Kate Hudson, Liv Tyler, Shelley Long, and others.

  • McCabe and Mrs. Miller — McCabe and Mrs. Miller is Robert Altman’s revisionist western about a gambler and a madam who open a frontier brothel. The film stars Warren Beatty and Julie Christie and ends with a snowy duel in the settlement of Presbyterian Church.

  • Secret Honor — Secret Honor is Robert Altman’s 1984 film built around Philip Baker Hall’s monologue as Richard Nixon. The movie presents a haunted, solitary Nixon reflecting on his fall from power with little more than whiskey and a gun.

• William Friedkin — The French Connection (1971, Best Picture); The Exorcist (1973). He was an American director associated with The Boys in the Band, Sorcerer, and Cruising. He co-founded The Directors Company and was known for provocative, controversial films.

  • Blue Chips — Blue Chips is the 1994 basketball film starring Nick Nolte as coach Pete Bell, who is pushed to break recruiting rules to stay competitive. It is especially associated with Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway in early film roles.

  • The Exorcist — The Exorcist is William Friedkin’s 1973 possession horror film centered on Regan MacNeil and the priests who attempt to free her from Pazuzu. It is famous for pea-soup effects, contortion scenes, and the enduring figure of Captain Howdy.

    • Regan MacNeil — Regan MacNeil is the possessed girl at the center of The Exorcist, the 1973 horror story about demonic possession and exorcism. She becomes the focus of supernatural events and is known for the possession scene and the line about it being an excellent day for an exorcism.

    • Repossessed — Repossessed is the 1990 parody of The Exorcist starring Linda Blair, Leslie Nielsen, and Ned Beatty. It features Nielsen as a priest and appearances by figures such as Jesse Ventura in a spoof built around another demonic possession.

• Roman Polanski’s American films — Rosemary’s Baby (1968) turns pregnancy and domestic control into paranoid horror; Chinatown (1974) uses neo-noir to connect private investigation with corruption, water, land, and power in Los Angeles.

• Hal Ashby — Harold and Maude (1971), The Last Detail (1973), Coming Home (1978), Being There (1979).
  • Harold and Maude — Harold and Maude is Hal Ashby’s dark comedy about a death-obsessed young man who falls for an elderly woman. Its clue scenes include staged suicides, funerals, and Cat Stevens songs, especially in the film’s famous opening and closing shots.
• Terrence Malick — reclusive, philosophical director known for sparse dialogue, narration replacing conversation, and use of “magic hour” light; Badlands (1973), Days of Heaven (1978), The Thin Red Line (1998, returning after a 20-year hiatus), The Tree of Life (2011, Palme d’Or). He is an American filmmaker; later films include The New World.

  • Days of Heaven — Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven is a pastoral drama set among Texas farm laborers and centered on Bill, Abby, and a rich farmer. Its best-known images include the wheat fields, a seed sprouting in time lapse, and the locust plague sequence shot with peanut shells dropped from planes and played in reverse. The film also recalls Edward Hopper’s House by the Railroad, and one character dies after being stabbed with a screwdriver.

  • The Thin Red Line — The Thin Red Line is Terrence Malick’s film about the Guadalcanal campaign, told through the thoughts of infantrymen in the South Pacific. Its title also recalls the nickname for the Light Brigade, the soldiers who repulsed a Russian cavalry charge at Balaclava.

• John Cassavetes — pioneer of American independent cinema; actor-director who self-financed films; Shadows (1959), A Woman Under the Influence (1974), Opening Night (1977); used improvisation and non-professional elements. He was a Greek-American actor-director closely associated with independent film and frequent collaborations with Gena Rowlands; his films also include Faces, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Love Streams, and he played Guy in Rosemary’s Baby.
  • A Woman Under the Influence — A Woman Under the Influence is a John Cassavetes film about Mabel, played by Gena Rowlands, whose unstable behavior strains her marriage to Nick. The film is also remembered for Pauline Kael’s notorious review, later recited in I’m Thinking of Ending Things.
• Brian De Palma — New Hollywood director strongly influenced by Hitchcock; Carrie (1976), Blow Out (1981), Scarface (1983), The Untouchables (1987). He is also associated with split-screens and violent crime dramas, and directed Phantom of the Paradise and the first Mission: Impossible film.

  • Casualties of War — Casualties of War is Brian De Palma’s Vietnam War drama starring Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn. The film centers on a soldier who witnesses his superior commit a horrific wartime crime.

  • Dressed to Kill — Dressed to Kill is a 1980 Brian De Palma thriller about a murder in an elevator and the investigation that follows. It stars Angie Dickinson and Michael Caine and is remembered for its Metropolitan Museum sequence and transvestite-killer twist.

  • Femme Fatale — A femme fatale is the classic noir seductress who uses charm and mystery to manipulate others, often toward betrayal or murder. Brian De Palma’s 2002 thriller Femme Fatale turns that archetype into the story of a diamond thief who fakes her death and frames a paparazzo.

  • Obsession — Obsession is a 1976 Brian De Palma film that echoes Vertigo through its story of a man whose wife is replaced by a look-alike. The name also appears as a perfume launched in 1985, noted for a sensual oriental scent.

  • Raising Cain — Raising Cain is Brian De Palma’s 1992 thriller about a child psychologist with multiple personalities. John Lithgow stars as the disturbed doctor who kidnaps children for experiments.

  • Redacted — Redacted is the 2007 Brian De Palma film about the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and her family by U.S. Marines. Its title is a bureaucratic euphemism for censorship.

  • Scarface — Scarface is the 1983 Brian De Palma crime film starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana, a Cuban drug lord who rises and falls in Miami. Its best-known moments include the line “Say hello to my little friend!,” the blimp slogan “The World Is Yours,” and the climactic gunfight with Sosa’s men.

    • Manny Ray — This character is Tony’s loyal right-hand man in Scarface, played by Steven Bauer. He is killed by Tony after Tony cannot accept his love for Gina.

    • Tony Montana — Tony Montana is the Cuban-born gangster at the center of Scarface. He rises in Miami’s drug trade, betrays his mentor, and ends with some of the film’s most quoted lines.

  • The Fury — The Fury is Brian De Palma’s 1978 thriller starring Kirk Douglas, Amy Irving, and John Cassavetes. It follows Peter Sandza’s search for his psychic son Robin after a kidnapping and ends with a violent telekinetic climax.

  • The Untouchables — The Untouchables is the 1987 film about Eliot Ness’s squad against Al Capone, starring Kevin Costner and featuring the famous Union Station staircase shootout. The title also refers to Ness’s Prohibition agents, the special bureau unit assembled for anti-smuggling work.
• Michael Cimino — The Deer Hunter (1978, Best Picture and Best Director); Heaven’s Gate (1980) was a catastrophic commercial failure that helped end the New Hollywood era.

  • The Deer Hunter — The Deer Hunter is Michael Cimino’s 1978 film about three Pennsylvania steelworkers whose lives are shattered by Vietnam and Russian roulette. It stars Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage as friends from Clairton, Pennsylvania, whose trauma continues after they return home.

  • Heaven’s Gate — Heaven’s Gate is Michael Cimino’s infamous 1980 epic western, remembered for its massive budget overruns and its devastating impact on United Artists. Clues often mention Willem Dafoe’s film debut, Isabelle Huppert as Cattle Kate Ellen Watson, and the production’s notorious animal-handling controversies.

• Sydney Pollack — They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969), Tootsie (1982), Out of Africa (1985, Best Picture and Best Director).

  • The Interpreter — The Interpreter is Sydney Pollack’s 2005 thriller starring Nicole Kidman as a UN interpreter caught in an assassination plot. Sean Penn and Catherine Keener play Secret Service agents drawn into the investigation.

  • This Property Is Condemned — This is the 1966 film This Property Is Condemned, based on a Tennessee Williams play. It stars Robert Redford and Natalie Wood.

  • Three Days of the Condor — Three Days of the Condor is the 1975 Sydney Pollack thriller in which Robert Redford plays CIA researcher Joe Turner. After returning from lunch to find his coworkers dead, he is drawn into a conspiracy involving his own agency, assassins, and a plot over Middle Eastern oil.

  • Tootsie — Tootsie is the 1982 Sydney Pollack film in which Dustin Hoffman plays an unemployed actor who disguises himself as a woman to get work on a soap opera. The film centers on Michael Dorsey’s alter ego Dorothy and his romance with the leading actress, Julie.

• Sidney Lumet — 12 Angry Men (1957), Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Network (1976), The Verdict (1982); known for socially conscious dramas set in New York. He was an American director known for adapting stage works into taut, socially conscious films set in New York. His credits include 12 Angry Men, Network, Dog Day Afternoon, and a filmed version of Long Day’s Journey Into Night.

  • 12 Angry Men — 12 Angry Men is Sidney Lumet’s courtroom drama about jurors debating a murder case. Its famous tension comes from Juror Eight slowly persuading the others to reconsider the evidence, especially the switchblade and the eyewitness testimony.

  • Dog Day Afternoon — Dog Day Afternoon is Sidney Lumet’s 1975 film about Sonny Wortzik’s Brooklyn bank robbery. The heist is tied to his attempt to pay for his partner’s gender reassignment surgery, and the film is famous for the ‘Attica!’ scene.

  • Running on Empty — Running on Empty is a 1988 Sidney Lumet film about a family on the run after a radical protest goes wrong. It stars Judd Hirsch, Christine Lahti, and River Phoenix. It is also the title of a Jackson Browne album and song from 1977, associated with touring life and road-worn reflection.

  • Sidney (Arthur) Lumet — Sidney Lumet was an American film director associated with New York urban dramas and courtroom films. His best-known works include 12 Angry Men, Fail-Safe, Dog Day Afternoon, and Network.

  • The Verdict — The Verdict is Sidney Lumet’s 1982 film about Frank Galvin, an alcoholic lawyer who takes on the Archdiocese of Boston in a malpractice suit. Paul Newman stars as Galvin, who eventually wins the case.

  • Fail-Safe — Fail-Safe is a Cold War nuclear thriller about an accidental order to bomb Moscow. It was adapted both as a film and as a later live television production starring Richard Dreyfuss.

• Sam Peckinpah — director associated with revisionist Westerns and graphic violence; The Wild Bunch (1969), Straw Dogs (1971), Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973). American director whose films often emphasize slow motion, brutal gunfights, and collapsing macho codes in the American West and beyond; also made Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974).

  • Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid — Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is a 1973 western film directed by Sam Peckinpah. It stars James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson and is especially known for Bob Dylan’s soundtrack.

  • The Wild Bunch — The Wild Bunch is Sam Peckinpah’s famously violent 1969 western about aging outlaws making one last stand. Its bloody finale, slow-motion gunfights, and morally exhausted gunmen made it one of the defining revisionist westerns. William Holden’s Pike Bishop is the central figure, and the film is often remembered for its depiction of doomed violence in the Old West and along the Mexican border.

  • Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia — Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is a Sam Peckinpah film set in Mexico and built around a bounty on the title corpse’s head. Its plot follows Bennie and El Jefe’s order to recover Alfredo Garcia’s head after Teresa’s pregnancy is revealed.

• Mike Nichols — Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), The Graduate (1967, Best Director Oscar), Silkwood (1983), Working Girl (1988), Primary Colors (1998). Mike Nichols was a stage and film director associated with Neil Simon adaptations and also directed Catch-22 and The Day of the Dolphin.

  • The Birdcage — The Birdcage is Mike Nichols’s 1996 comedy adaptation of La Cage aux Folles, starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as a gay couple who pretend to be a straight family. Its Miami drag-club setting and conservative-senator subplot make it a common film clue.

  • Working Girl — Working Girl is the 1988 Mike Nichols film starring Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford, and Sigourney Weaver. It was nominated for five Oscars and later inspired a short-lived television spin-off with Sandra Bullock as Tess McGill.

• George Roy Hill — George Roy Hill was an American director known for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Slap Shot, and The World According to Garp. He also directed the film version of Slaughterhouse-Five and won the Academy Award for The Sting.

  • The Sting — The Sting is the 1973 George Roy Hill con film starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford as grifters who swindle Doyle Lonnegan. Its ragtime soundtrack, arranged by Marvin Hamlisch from Scott Joplin pieces, helped revive Joplin’s music for a modern audience.

  • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid — 1969; directed by George Roy Hill; starring Paul Newman (Butch) and Robert Redford (Sundance Kid); screenplay by William Goldman; the title outlaws flee to Bolivia; won four Academy Awards including Original Screenplay and Original Score (Burt Bacharach); “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” was the era-defining song; the freeze-frame ending is among the most iconic in American cinema.

• The Way We Were — The Way We Were is the 1973 romantic drama starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford as Katie Morosky and Hubbell Gardner. Their relationship is shaped by political differences, blacklisting-era tensions, and an eventual breakup.

• American Graffiti — American Graffiti is George Lucas’s nostalgic 1973 coming-of-age film set on a single night in Modesto, California. It follows Curt and his friends through cruising, diner scenes, and rock-and-roll nostalgia, with Wolfman Jack and the White T-Bird among its best-known clues.
  • More American Graffiti — More American Graffiti is the 1979 sequel to George Lucas’s American Graffiti, structured as four intercut episodes set on successive New Year’s Eves. It follows returning characters like Terry, Big John Milner, and others from the original film across the 1960s and early Vietnam era.

• The French Connection — The French Connection is the 1971 William Friedkin film starring Gene Hackman as detective Popeye Doyle. It is best known for its car chase and for the heroin-smuggling scheme run by the character played by Fernando Rey.

• They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? — They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? is Sydney Pollack’s 1969 film about a grueling Depression-era dance marathon. It stars Jane Fonda and Michael Sarrazin and is famous for Rocky’s chant of “Yowza! Yowza! Yowza!”.

• Arthur Hiller — Arthur Hiller was the Canadian director of Love Story and An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn. He also served as president of the Directors Guild of America and famously removed his name from a film’s credits after disliking the edit.
  • Making Love — Making Love is a 1982 film directed by Arthur Hiller that stars Michael Ontkean and Kate Jackson, with Harry Hamlin in the cast. The story centers on a married doctor who discovers his latent homosexuality.
• Arthur Penn
  • Little Big Man — Little Big Man is an Arthur Penn western starring Dustin Hoffman as Jack Crabb. The film follows a survivor of Custer’s Last Stand and depicts his encounters with General Custer and Native Americans.
• The Outlaw Josey Wales — The Outlaw Josey Wales is a 1976 Clint Eastwood western about a former Confederate soldier who seeks revenge after his family is killed. Its cast and memorable characters include Chief Dan George’s Cherokee, Grandma Sarah, and Vernon’s Fletcher.
  • Josey Wales — Josey Wales is the title outlaw of the 1976 Clint Eastwood western The Outlaw Josey Wales. The character is a Missouri guerilla turned fugitive whose famous line is that dying is not much of a living.

Documentary and Claims about Reality

Documentary filmmaking selects and organizes evidence through framing, sound, editing, interviews, and sometimes reconstruction. Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin’s Chronicle of a Summer (1961) makes the encounter between filmmakers and participants part of its inquiry. Errol Morris’s The Thin Blue Line (1988) combines interviews, music, and stylized reenactments to examine conflicting accounts. Compare how each film asks viewers to judge what they see and hear; documentary is a method of representation, not an absence of authorship. Both are in the Core film study list.³

• Adam Curtis — Adam Curtis is a British documentary filmmaker known for all-caps title cards and voice-over narration about simplifying historical narratives. His films include The Power of Nightmares, The Century of the Self, and All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace.

• Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction — Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction was a 1995 televised ‘documentary’ presented by Ray Santilli and narrated by Jonathan Frakes. It was widely criticized as a hoax because of obvious film inconsistencies.

• Animated documentary films
  • Waltz with Bashir — Waltz with Bashir is Ari Folman’s animated documentary about his memories of serving in the IDF during the Lebanon War. It culminates in the Sabra and Shatila massacre, using stylized animation to explore trauma and recovered memory.

• Baraka — *Baraka* is Ron Fricke’s 1992 non-narrative film of global imagery, with scenes from places such as Jerusalem, Kyoto, Luxor, and Mecca. The same word also names a sacred blessing or spiritual force in popular Islam that can be transferred by touch, breath, or spitting.

• Blackfish — Blackfish is Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s 2013 documentary about the cruelty of keeping orcas in captivity, especially the SeaWorld whale Tilikum. It became a widely cited criticism of marine-animal parks and helped damage SeaWorld’s public image.

• Bowling for Columbine — Bowling for Columbine is Michael Moore’s 2002 documentary about American gun culture and fear. It includes interviews with Marilyn Manson and Charlton Heston, and its montage is set to “What a Wonderful World.”

• Citizenfour — Citizenfour is Laura Poitras’s documentary about Edward Snowden’s leak of the NSA surveillance programs PRISM and XKEYSCORE. The film centers on Snowden’s meetings in Hong Kong and won the 2015 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

• Davis Guggenheim
  • Waiting for Superman — Waiting for Superman is a Davis Guggenheim documentary about failures in American public education and the rise of charter schools. It focuses on figures such as Geoffrey Canada and Michelle Rhee and drew criticism for its pro-charter-school argument.

• Deliver Us From Evil — Deliver Us from Evil is the 2006 documentary by Amy Berg about Father Oliver O’Grady, a convicted child molester whose abuse was covered up for years. The film focuses on institutional failure within the church and includes a cover of “Hallelujah” in its soundtrack.

• documentaries — Documentaries are nonfiction films or series that present real people and events. The clues point to works by filmmakers such as Michael Moore, Ken Burns, Werner Herzog, and Agnès Varda.

  • An Inconvenient Truth — An Inconvenient Truth is Davis Guggenheim’s documentary featuring Al Gore’s presentation on global warming and climate change. It won the Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature and Best Original Song.

  • Control Room — Control Room is Jehane Noujaim’s documentary about Al-Jazeera’s coverage of the Iraq War. It focuses on how the network reported the war and how those images shaped Western perceptions.

  • Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room — Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is a 2005 documentary about the rise and collapse of Enron. Based on the book by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, it presents the company’s story as a corporate catastrophe.

  • Harlan County, USA — Harlan County, USA is Barbara Kopple’s acclaimed 1976 documentary about the Brookside coal miners’ strike in Kentucky. The film won an Oscar and is known for its tense on-the-ground footage of the strike and labor conflict.

  • Harvest of Shame — Harvest of Shame was a 1960 CBS documentary narrated by Edward R. Murrow about migrant farm workers. It exposed the poor living and working conditions of farmworkers in Florida and California.

  • Man on Wire — Man on Wire is the documentary about Philippe Petit’s 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers. It won the BAFTA for Best British Film and later inspired The Walk.

  • March of the Penguins — March of the Penguins is a 2005 nature documentary about emperor penguins. It became a surprise hit and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

  • Paris is Burning — Paris Is Burning is Jennie Livingston’s documentary about New York drag-ball culture and the houses of the late 1980s. It helped popularize terms like “shade” and brought wider attention to queer performance scenes.
    • Venus Xtravaganza — Venus Xtravaganza was a trans performer associated with the House of Xtravaganza in Paris Is Burning. She was murdered in an unsolved 1988 case that is often discussed through the film’s ballroom scenes and her house mother Angie’s reactions.

  • Roger & Me — Roger & Me is Michael Moore’s documentary about his failed attempt to confront General Motors CEO Roger Smith over factory closures in Flint, Michigan. The film became a landmark of Moore’s early left-wing documentary style and includes many interviews with displaced Flint residents and local figures.

  • The Act of Killing — The Act of Killing is Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary about Anwar Congo and other perpetrators of Indonesia’s 1960s anti-communist killings. It stands out for surreal reenactments in which the killers restage their crimes in film genres and musical numbers.

  • The Aristocrats — The Aristocrats is the 2005 documentary built around the notorious filthy vaudeville joke of the same name. Comedians like George Carlin and Bob Saget retell the setup in wildly different versions, with Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza behind the film.

  • This Film Is Not Yet Rated — This Film Is Not Yet Rated is Kirby Dick’s documentary about the MPAA rating system. It argues that the board is harsher on nudity and sex than on violence.

  • Vernon, Florida — Vernon, Florida is an Errol Morris documentary that began with the working title Nub City. It shifts from the town’s reputation for insurance-fraud amputations to eccentric local interviews.

  • Wordplay — Wordplay is a 2006 documentary about the New York Times crossword puzzle and its annual tournament. It features crossword editor Will Shortz and profiles top solvers such as Ellen Ripstein, Trip Payne, Tyler Hinman, Jon Delfin, and Al Sanders.
• documentary film — A documentary film is a nonfiction movie genre that covers real events, people, or institutions rather than invented stories. Quizbowl clues often point to Frederick Wiseman, Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera, and modern examples such as 13th, Bowling for Columbine, and The Vietnam War.
  • documentary filmmakers
    • Barbara Kopple — Barbara Kopple is an American documentary filmmaker who won Academy Awards for Harlan County U.S.A. and American Dream. Her other notable films include Wild Man Blues, Shut Up & Sing, and Havoc, often focusing on labor, music, or public controversy.
  • Loose Change — Loose Change is a 9/11 conspiracy documentary by Dylan Avery. It was released in multiple versions, including one subtitled An American Coup, and drew debate with Popular Mechanics over its claims.
• Documentary filmmakers
  • Michael Francis Moore — American documentary filmmaker from Flint, known for sharply political films such as Roger and Me, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko, and Capitalism: A Love Story. His work often targets American politics and inequality, and he is known for confrontational political stunts and provocative commentary on figures like George W. Bush and on the financial crisis. He won an Oscar while denouncing President George W. Bush.

    • Canadian Bacon — This Michael Moore comedy centers on a fabricated war with Canada and stars Alan Alda as the U.S. president. It was John Candy’s final film and became a notorious box-office bomb.

    • The Big One — The Big One is Michael Moore’s 1997 documentary following the book tour for Downsize This! and his satirical stops at American corporations. It ends with a visit to Nike cofounder Phil Knight and is structured as a road movie about downsizing and corporate criticism.

  • Frederick Wiseman — Frederick Wiseman is a documentary filmmaker associated with direct cinema and long observational films about institutions. His works include Titicut Follies, High School, Hospital, Near Death, and National Gallery.

  • Ken Burns — Ken Burns is an American documentarian known for expansive PBS series such as The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, and The Vietnam War. His style often uses slow pans over still photographs and voiceover narration, a device commonly called the Ken Burns effect.

  • Laura Poitras — Laura Poitras is an American documentary filmmaker best known for Citizenfour, which chronicles the Edward Snowden surveillance disclosures. Her other post-9/11 documentaries include My Country, My Country and The Oath.

  • Morgan Spurlock — Morgan Spurlock is a documentary filmmaker known for Super Size Me, in which he ate only McDonald’s food for a month. He also created reality-TV projects such as I Bet You Will and 30 Days.

  • Robert J. Flaherty — Robert J. Flaherty was an early documentary filmmaker best known for Nanook of the North. He also made Moana, Man of Aran, Louisiana Story, and Tabu-related work, helping define the ethnographic documentary form.

  • Robert Joseph Flaherty — Robert Joseph Flaherty was a pioneering documentary filmmaker best known for Nanook of the North. He also made Man of Aran and other ethnographic films that were often criticized for romanticizing or reshaping their subjects.

    • Nanook of the North — A 1922 silent documentary film by Robert Flaherty about Inuit life in the Arctic, following an Inuit hunter and his family. It is known for scenes such as the igloo-building sequence and staged hunting scenes, and is often cited as an early landmark documentary and salvage ethnography, though later criticized as problematic for its authenticity.

    • Nanook of the North: A Story of Life and Love in the Actual Arctic — Nanook of the North: A Story of Life and Love in the Actual Arctic is Robert Flaherty’s 1922 documentary about an Inuit family’s survival. It follows Nanook and his family through seal hunting, igloo building, and other staged scenes of Arctic life.

• Documentary filmmaking styles
  • cinéma vérité — Cinéma vérité is a French documentary style associated with Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin, often linked to direct cinema and the influence of Dziga Vertov. It is known for films such as Chronicle of a Summer and for questioning whether people can remain sincere when a camera is present.
• Educational films
  • Duck and Cover — Duck and Cover was a Civil Defense Administration film shown in Cold War schools to teach children what to do during a nuclear attack. It starred Bert the Turtle and famously told viewers to duck and cover when an explosion appeared imminent.

• Errol Morris — Errol Morris is an American documentary filmmaker known for The Thin Blue Line, A Brief History of Time, The Fog of War, and Vernon, Florida. He pioneered the Interrotron and became known for stylized, interview-driven nonfiction films. He has frequently collaborated with Philip Glass, who scored The Thin Blue Line.

• Exit Through the Gift Shop — Exit Through the Gift Shop is a 2010 documentary associated with Banksy and Thierry Guetta, who became known as Mr. Brainwash. It follows the rise of street-art spectacle around the “Life Is Beautiful” exhibition and has been treated by some clues as a possible hoax.

• Fahrenheit 9/11 — Fahrenheit 9/11 is Michael Moore’s 2004 documentary about the leadup to the Iraq War. It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, a rare honor for a documentary.

• Feed — Feed is a 2005 documentary about the 1992 New Hampshire primary, assembled largely from footage of candidates before television interviews. It is also the title of the first novel in Mira Grant’s Newsflesh series, a zombie-apocalypse story about news bloggers following a presidential campaign.

• film format
  • newsreels — Newsreels were short informational films shown before features, often with forceful narration and stirring music. They became a staple of cinema culture in the first half of the twentieth century and were later parodied in works like Citizen Kane and Zelig.

• Genghis Blues — Genghis Blues is the documentary about blind singer Paul Pena’s journey to Mongolia and Tuva for a throat-singing competition. The film was nominated for an Academy Award.

• Interview
  • interviews — Interviews are the documentary and television segments built around questions and answers. They appear in works ranging from Shoah to The Paris Review’s Writers at Work series and in the staged interview scenes of The Hunger Games broadcast.
• Leon Gast
  • When We Were Kings — When We Were Kings is Leon Gast’s 1996 documentary about Muhammad Ali and George Foreman’s Rumble in the Jungle fight in Zaire. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and is one of the best-known boxing documentaries.
• Les Blank
  • Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe — Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe is Les Blank’s short documentary about Herzog fulfilling a bizarre promise tied to the premiere of Errol Morris’s Gates of Heaven. The film centers on Herzog, who had joked that he would eat a shoe if Morris finished the documentary, and it includes his comic remarks about American television and culture.
• Marilyn Agrelo
  • Mad Hot Ballroom — Mad Hot Ballroom is a 2005 documentary by Marilyn Agrelo about New York City elementary-school ballroom dancers. It follows students in a dance program and culminates in ballroom competition performances.
• mockumentary films
  • Waiting for Guffman — Waiting for Guffman is a Christopher Guest mockumentary set in the fictional Missouri town of Blaine, where locals stage a sesquicentennial pageant. The film centers on amateur theater director Corky St. Clair and satirizes small-town ambition and community performance.

• Murderball — Murderball is a documentary about wheelchair rugby, the Paralympic sport also known by that colloquial name. The film focuses in part on athlete Joe Soares Zupan and the competitive world around the sport.

• One Day in September — One Day in September is a documentary about the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, when members of Black September abducted and murdered Israeli athletes. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

• Pumping Iron — Pumping Iron is the 1977 documentary about bodybuilding competitions that helped make Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno famous. It follows the 1975 Mr. Olympia and related contests, and is associated with George Butler and Charles Gaines.

• Robert Kenner
  • Food, Inc. — Food, Inc. is Robert Kenner’s 2008 documentary about industrial agriculture and the meat industry. It criticizes corporate livestock production and food safety practices, including contamination and unhealthy processing.

• Roger and Me — Roger and Me is Michael Moore’s documentary about Flint, Michigan, and his failed effort to interview General Motors chairman Roger Smith. It satirizes the economic collapse around GM layoffs and became Moore’s breakthrough film.

• Sicko — Sicko is Michael Moore’s 2007 documentary attacking the U.S. health care system. It contrasts American care with systems abroad and includes Moore’s controversial trip to Cuba with 9/11 rescue workers.

• Standing in the Shadows of Motown — Standing in the Shadows of Motown is a 2002 documentary about the Funk Brothers, the studio musicians behind many Motown hits. It features archival material and a reunion concert, and it was based on Allan Slutsky’s book and narrated by Andre Braugher.

• Steve James
  • Hoop Dreams — Hoop Dreams is the acclaimed 1994 documentary by Steve James about two Chicago-area teenagers chasing basketball careers. It became famous for its long production, critical acclaim, and unusually narrow Oscar recognition despite its reputation as a landmark nonfiction film.

• Super Size Me — Super Size Me is Morgan Spurlock’s 2004 documentary about the effects of eating McDonald’s food for a month. It became a widely referenced example of fast-food criticism and inspired later reality TV imitators.

• The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara — The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara is Errol Morris’s documentary portrait of the former U.S. Defense Secretary. The film is built from interviews with McNamara and reflects on the moral and strategic dilemmas of the Kennedy and Johnson years.

• The Hate that Hate Produced — The Hate That Hate Produced was a Mike Wallace and Louis Lomax documentary that brought the Nation of Islam to wide public attention. It helped make Malcolm X a public figure by introducing many white viewers to black nationalism.

• The Plow That Broke the Plains — The Plow That Broke the Plains is a 1936 Depression-era film with a score by Virgil Thomson. Pare Lorentz made it as a documentary about the hardships faced by Plains farmers and the Dust Bowl.

• The Thin Blue Line — The Thin Blue Line is Errol Morris’s 1988 documentary about the wrongful conviction of Randall Dale Adams for the murder of Dallas officer Robert Wood. Its title refers to police as the line that separates order from chaos.

• The War Room — The War Room is a documentary about Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, directed by Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker. It focuses on strategists such as James Carville and George Stephanopoulos inside the campaign headquarters in Little Rock.

• This Is Spinal Tap — This Is Spinal Tap is the 1984 mockumentary about a fictional British heavy-metal band and its collapsing tour. Quizbowl clues often mention Nigel Tufnel’s “none more black” remark, the dead drummers, and the film’s satirical rock-documentary style.

• Winged Migration — Winged Migration is a 2001 documentary by Jacques Perrin, filmed over three years on all seven continents and celebrated for its bird-flight cinematography.

• Zapruder film — The Zapruder film is the 8mm home movie Abraham Zapruder shot of President Kennedy’s assassination in Dealey Plaza. It later became the centerpiece of copyright fights and conspiracy investigations, including uses in Oliver Stone’s JFK and later documentary discussion.

Experimental Film

• Meshes of the Afternoon — 1943; Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid. Repeated actions, unstable viewpoints, and dreamlike variations make a domestic setting strange. Study the short as an example of experimental cinema organized around perception and association rather than continuous plot.⁴ Its recurring images include a key, a knife, and a mirror-faced hooded figure, and its looped dream logic reinforces the unstable point of view and uncanny fragmentation of the domestic setting.

• Andy Warhol
  • Eat — Eat is the verb title of an Andy Warhol short film starring Robert Indiana, who sits at a table and performs the titular action. It is also the title of an Allan Kaprow happening in which visitors were offered food and drink, then led to a cave where he served boiled potatoes.

• Chelsea Girls — Chelsea Girls is an Andy Warhol film centered on the residents of the Chelsea Hotel and famously projected in split screen.

• Ballet Mécanique — Ballet Mécanique is a 1924 avant-garde short film by Dudley Murphy and Fernand Léger. Its fragmented images and machine-age imagery reflect Cubist and modernist interests in motion, form, and the relationship between people and technology.

• Experimental filmmakers

  • Kenneth Anger — Kenneth Anger was an experimental filmmaker associated with Aleister Crowley, Thelema, and queer underground cinema. His films include Fireworks, Scorpio Rising, Lucifer Rising, and other shorts linked to rock music, occult imagery, and Hollywood Babylon.

  • Hans Richter — Hans Richter was a German avant-garde filmmaker and painter associated with Dada and abstract cinema. He made Rhythmus 21 and later worked on films and musical collaborations that place him in both experimental film history and broader early modernist art.

  • Jonas Mekas — Jonas Mekas was a Lithuanian-American avant-garde filmmaker often called the godfather of American experimental cinema. He founded the Filmmakers’ Cinematheque, which later became part of Anthology Film Archives, and helped coin the term “New American Cinema.”

  • Stan Brakhage — Stan Brakhage was an American experimental filmmaker known for intensely personal and formally radical works such as Window Water Baby Moving and Dog Star Man. His films include Blow Job and The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes, the latter using footage from a real autopsy.

  • Maya Deren — Maya Deren was the Ukrainian-born American experimental filmmaker best known for Meshes of the Afternoon, At Land, and Ritual in Transfigured Time. Her work uses dream logic, surreal imagery, and dance, and she also made the Haitian vodou documentary Divine Horsemen. She collaborated with Alexander Hammid and became a key figure in avant-garde cinema, even writing about the creative use of reality in film. Other recurring clues include the mirror-faced hooded figure and the knife-key transformation in Meshes of the Afternoon.

• Rejected — Rejected is Don Hertzfeldt’s animated short film collection centered on increasingly chaotic and absurd advertisements and cartoons. It is especially remembered for the line “my anus is bleeding” and for its grotesque, surreal visual gags.

• Matthew Barney
  • Cremaster Cycle
    • The Cremaster Cycle — Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle is a five-film experimental series named for the cremaster muscle, which regulates the position of the testes. Its films range from an Isle of Man motorcycle-race episode to other surreal set pieces involving figures such as Gary Gilmore, Richard Serra, and Ursula Andress.
• Qatsi trilogy
  • Koyaanisqatsi — Godfrey Reggio’s wordless experimental film, scored by Philip Glass and the first entry in his trilogy. Its title is a Hopi phrase meaning “life out of balance” or “life out of harmony”; the film uses slow motion and time-lapse imagery to contrast cities, technology, and nature.

Animation and Digital Image-Making

Animation constructs apparent movement frame by frame. Drawn animation, including work made with painted cels, differs materially from stop-motion animation of physical objects and from computer animation of digital models. Compare movement, timing, texture, and the relation of characters to their backgrounds; these are expressive choices rather than a hierarchy of technical progress. Digital tools can also composite animation and photographed footage, so animation is not confined to films marketed as cartoons. Read the Nightmare Before Christmas and CGI examples below with those distinctions in mind.⁵

• Akira — Akira is Katsuhiro Otomo’s landmark 1988 cyberpunk anime set in Neo-Tokyo, where Tetsuo Shima develops destructive psychic powers after government experimentation. Its imagery, including Kaneda’s motorcycle slide, became hugely influential and helped define the look of modern anime.

• All Dogs Go to Heaven — All Dogs Go to Heaven is the Don Bluth animated film about Charlie B. Barkin, a dog who returns from the title locale to get revenge on Carface and protect the orphan Anne-Marie. Quizbowl clues often mention the voices of Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise, along with its theological and afterlife-themed plot.

• Allegro Non Troppo — Allegro Non Troppo is Bruno Bozzetto’s 1976 Italian parody of Fantasia. Its anthology segments include one set to Ravel’s Boléro and another that imagines life emerging from a discarded bottle.

• American animators

  • Bill Plympton — Bill Plympton is an independent animator known for surreal shorts, feature-length animation, and a highly recognizable hand-drawn style. His films include The Tune, Idiots and Angels, and Mutant Aliens.

  • Don Bluth — Don Bluth is an American animator and director who left Disney and became known for films like The Secret of NIMH and The Land Before Time. He also worked on Dragon’s Lair and later directed features such as An American Tail, Titan A.E., and other collaborations with Steven Spielberg and Gary Goldman.
    • An American Tail — An American Tail is Don Bluth’s animated film about Fievel Mousekewitz, a young Russian-Jewish mouse who immigrates to the United States. Its best-known song is “Somewhere Out There,” and it helped establish the mascot image of the old Amblimation studio.
      • An American Tail: Fievel Goes West — An American Tail: Fievel Goes West is the sequel to Don Bluth’s animated film An American Tail. It is remembered for Jimmy Stewart’s final role as the voice of the sheriff Wylie Burp.

    • The Land Before Time — The Land Before Time is an animated dinosaur adventure about Littlefoot, Ducky, Cera, Petrie, and Spike searching for the Great Valley. It is notable as a Don Bluth film that spawned a long series of sequels, many of them musicals, and opens with Littlefoot’s mother being killed by a Tyrannosaurus rex.

    • Dragon’s Lair — Dragon’s Lair is Don Bluth’s laserdisc arcade game starring Dirk the Daring on a quest to rescue Princess Daphne. It became famous for its animated quick-time sequences and later spawned ports, sequels, and an animated series.
  • John Lasseter — John Lasseter is a Pixar filmmaker and executive closely associated with the studio’s early computer-animated shorts and features. He directed Luxo, Jr. and helped guide Toy Story, later leading Disney Animation after Pixar’s success.
• Animated films

  • Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs — Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the animated film in which inventor Flint Lockwood accidentally causes food to rain from the sky over Swallow Falls. It features Sam Sparks, spray-on shoes, and a barrage of absurd food-based disasters.

  • Happy Feet — Happy Feet is the animated film about Mumble, a penguin who cannot sing but tap dances instead. It won the Best Animated Film Oscar and is remembered for voices by Elijah Wood and Robin Williams, plus its sequel in 2011.

  • The Triplets of Belleville — The Triplets of Belleville is an animated film about a grandmother searching for her kidnapped bicyclist grandson. Its offbeat, largely dialogue-light style and surreal comedy helped make it a distinctive Oscar-nominated feature.

  • Der Fuehrer’s Face — Der Fuehrer’s Face is a Walt Disney wartime propaganda cartoon starring Donald Duck. It became especially famous through Spike Jones’s hit version of its title song and won the 1943 Academy Award for best cartoon.

  • Dumbo — Dumbo is the 1941 Disney animated film about a baby elephant who learns to fly with help from Timothy Q. Mouse and a pair of crows. It is also remembered for “Baby Mine,” the pink-elephant hallucination sequence, and the fact that its silent title character never speaks.

  • Hop — Hop is a 2011 film from Illumination that stars Russell Brand as a rabbit who wants to be a drummer instead of the Easter Bunny. It also stars James Marsden as the human who befriends E.B., the rabbit at the center of the story.

  • Over the Hedge — Over the Hedge is the DreamWorks animated film about woodland animals coping with suburban sprawl and food shortages. It features RJ the raccoon, Stella the skunk, and Hammy the squirrel, and it was adapted from Michael Fry and T. Lewis’s comic strip.

  • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse follows Miles Morales as he joins alternate versions of Spider-Man from multiple dimensions to stop Kingpin’s collider scheme. The film features the song “Sunflower” and won the 2019 Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

  • The Wind Rises — The Wind Rises is Hayao Miyazaki’s 2013 animated film about Jiro Horikoshi, designer of the Mitsubishi Zero. Its title comes from Paul Valéry’s poem “The Graveyard by the Sea.”

• Animated short films
  • Bambi Meets Godzilla — Bambi Meets Godzilla is Marv Newland’s two-minute animated short in which a deer is immediately crushed by Godzilla. The film’s dark joke and abrupt ending make it a cult classic among short animations.
• animated shorts
  • Skeleton Dance — Skeleton Dance is the first Silly Symphony, a 1929 Walt Disney cartoon animated with work by Ub Iwerks, Les Clark, and Wilfred Jackson. It is set to Camille Saint-Saëns’s Danse Macabre and features a comic cemetery dance.
• Animation techniques

  • claymation — Claymation is a stop-motion animation style that uses malleable clay figures, molds, or armatures frame by frame. Artists and studios associated with it include Art Clokey, Will Vinton, and Aardman, whose films include Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run.

  • rotoscoping — Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which artists trace over live-action footage frame by frame. It is associated with Max Fleischer, Richard Linklater films like Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, and games such as The Banner Saga and the original Prince of Persia.

  • stop motion — Stop motion is an animation technique that creates motion by photographing incrementally adjusted figures or objects frame by frame. It is associated with films such as Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Isle of Dogs, and Wallace and Gromit.

• Animators

  • Don Hertzfeldt — Don Hertzfeldt is an American animator known for the short films Rejected and World of Tomorrow. His work often uses absurdist vignettes and the ill-fated Bill trilogy, and his first feature was It’s Such a Beautiful Day.

  • Pendleton Ward — Pendleton Ward is the animator behind Adventure Time and Bravest Warriors. His work is often identified with the CalArts-style look and with later projects like The Midnight Gospel.

  • Tex Avery — American animator and director known for his wildly exaggerated cartoon style and rapid-fire visual gags at Warner Bros. and MGM. His work includes Daffy Duck, Droopy, Red Hot Riding Hood, Screwy Squirrel, and George and Junior; he later made the controversial Frito Bandito commercials.

  • Chuck Jones — Chuck Jones was a Warner Bros. animator and director best known for Looney Tunes shorts and later work on The Grinch and other specials. He co-created Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner and pioneered expressive cartoon techniques such as smearing.

    • The Dot and the Line — This Chuck Jones animated short adapts Norton Juster’s geometric romance in which the sensible Dot wins over the carefree Squiggle. Its mock-epic moral closes with the line that the vector gets the spoils.
• Anthropomorphic food characters
  • being beans — Being beans refers to films and shorts in which beans or coffee beans are anthropomorphic characters. The clue set mentions works such as Killer Bean Forever and Scenes with Beans.

• Antz — Antz is the 1998 DreamWorks animated film about Z, a worker ant voiced by Woody Allen, who uncovers General Mandible’s plot against the colony. It is often contrasted with Pixar’s A Bug’s Life because both ant movies appeared around the same time.

• Avatar
  • unobtanium — Unobtanium is a joking term for a fictional or impossibly desirable material. James Cameron used the word for the valuable mineral mined from Pandora in Avatar.
• Babe
  • Babe: Pig in the City — Babe: Pig in the City is the sequel to Babe, directed by George Miller and centered on the pig’s trip to a strange urban metropolis. It is remembered as a darkly eccentric follow-up to the Oscar-nominated original, with voice work including Elizabeth Daily, Mickey Rooney, and James Cromwell.

• Barnyard — Barnyard is a 2006 Nickelodeon animated film about a group of farm animals led by Otis, a cow voiced by Kevin James. Its plot includes bikes, pranks, and crude humor, and it spawned the television series Back at the Barnyard.

• Bee Movie — The 2007 DreamWorks animated film starring Jerry Seinfeld as Barry B. Benson, a bee who leaves the hive and sues humans for exploiting honey. It became an internet meme for its absurd dialogue, especially the recurring “Ya like jazz?” joke and the opening line about the laws of aviation. The story also centers on Barry’s awkward relationship with Vanessa Bloome and a courtroom plot involving honey theft, bear evidence, and a broader environmental satire.

• Big Hero 6 — Big Hero 6 is the Disney animated film set in the mash-up city of San Fransokyo and centered on Hiro Hamada and his robot Baymax. Its supporting team includes Wasabi, and the villain steals Hiro’s Microbots.
  • Baymax — Baymax is the inflatable medical robot created by Tadashi in Big Hero 6 and used as Hiro Hamada’s companion. He is built to provide care and repeatedly asks whether the patient is satisfied with that care.
• Despicable Me — Despicable Me is the 2010 animated film about Gru, a supervillain who adopts three orphan girls while plotting to steal the moon. Its clues commonly mention the Minions, Vector, and set pieces like Super Silly Fun Land and the Bank of Evil.
  • Despicable Me 2 — Despicable Me 2 is the 2013 animated sequel in which Gru joins the Anti-Villain League and confronts El Macho. It also includes Lucy’s romance with Gru and the yellow minions, along with the mutagen plot involving Dr. Nefario and Eduardo Perez.
• Disney animated films

  • The Emperor’s New Groove — The Emperor’s New Groove is the 2000 Disney animated film about Kuzco, who is transformed into a llama and travels with Pacha. The film has also generated internet memes, especially images of Pacha and Kuzco.

  • Treasure Planet — A 2002 Disney animated science-fiction film adapting Treasure Island, reimagining the story in space. Characters include Jim Hawkins, the cyborg Long John Silver, Captain Amelia, Morph, and B.E.N.; the ship passes through a wormhole. The voice cast includes Helena Bonham Carter.

• Disney animated shorts
  • Der Fuhrer’s Face — Der Fuehrer’s Face is the wartime Donald Duck cartoon that imagines life in a Nazi factory and ends with his relief that it was only a dream. It was also turned into a novelty hit by Spike Jones.

• Doogal — Doogal is an animated film based on The Magic Roundabout, featuring the candy-loving dog of the title. Its characters include Dylan, Ermintrude, and the villain Zeebad.

• Fantasia 2000 — Fantasia 2000 is Disney’s sequel to Fantasia, released decades later with new animated segments set to classical music. Its soundtrack includes works like Rhapsody in Blue, The Firebird, and the Nutcracker Suite, and it was presented in IMAX.

• FernGully: The Last Rainforest — FernGully: The Last Rainforest is a 1992 animated film set in an Australian rainforest threatened by logging and pollution. It features a logger named Zak who is shrunk to fairy size and was influential in environmental pop culture of the 1990s.

• Film formats
  • 3-D — 3-D is a stereoscopic film format that creates the illusion of depth using special glasses. It was popularized by films such as Bwana Devil, House of Wax, and later effects-driven releases like Spy Kids 3.
• Final Fantasy
  • Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within — Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is the 2001 Square animated film that was designed to imitate the success of the company’s video game series. It stars Alec Baldwin, James Woods, and Ming-Na and is notable for its emphasis on motion capture and photorealistic computer graphics.
• Final Fantasy VII
  • Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children — Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is the CGI sequel film that continues the story of Final Fantasy VII two years later. It centers on Cloud, Tifa, and the return of Sephiroth, while Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo try to bring about Jenova’s revival.
• Finding Nemo — Finding Nemo is Pixar’s 2003 animated film about Marlin’s search for his son Nemo after the boy is captured by a dentist. Along the way it features Dory, Crush, the East Australian Current, and the address 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney.

  • Dory — Dory is the blue tang from Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, famous for her short-term memory loss. She teams up with Marlin, remembers the address P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney, and learns to communicate with whales.

  • Nigel — Nigel is the name of the pelican who carries Marlin and Dory to the dentist’s office in Finding Nemo. It also appears as a comic-character and title-name clue in British pop culture, including Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap.

• Finding Nemo franchise
  • Finding Dory — Finding Dory is the Pixar sequel to Finding Nemo that follows Dory, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, as she tries to reunite with her family. The film features the Marine Life Institute, a rescue from a transport truck to Cleveland, and supporting characters such as Destiny and Bailey.

• Flushed Away — Flushed Away is the DreamWorks and Aardman animated film set largely in the sewers beneath London. It stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet, and features Le Frog, The Toad, and a rat society called Ratropolis.

• Foodfight! — Foodfight! is the infamously mishandled animated film about anthropomorphic groceries, released years after its planned debut. It stars Charlie Sheen as Dex Dogtective and became notorious for heavy product placement and its disastrous reputation.

• Futurama
  • Bender’s Big Score
    • Futurama: Bender’s Big Score — Futurama: Bender’s Big Score is a straight-to-video Futurama film released in 2007. Its plot involves time travel, a machine code tattoo, and the scammer aliens trying to steal the Earth’s treasures through Bender.

• Home on the Range — Home on the Range is the 2004 Disney animated western about cows trying to save Patch of Heaven ranch from the rustler Alameda Slim. It is titled after the folk song that asks for a place where the buffalo roam.

• Hoodwinked — Hoodwinked is a 2006 animated film that retells Little Red Riding Hood with a comic, investigative twist. Its voice cast includes Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, Jim Belushi, and Patrick Warburton.

• Hotel Transylvania — Hotel Transylvania is an animated film franchise in which Adam Sandler voices Dracula. The films center on Dracula’s monster hotel and his daughter Mavis, with the first movie set in motion when a human stumbles into the lodging.

• How to Train Your Dragon — How to Train Your Dragon is the animated franchise about Hiccup and his dragon Toothless. The films were adapted from books credited to Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, and John Powell composed the score for the first movie.
  • Toothless — Toothless is the Night Fury dragon from How to Train Your Dragon and Hiccup’s flying companion. He has a prosthetic tail fin and becomes alpha-level leader of the dragons in later installments.
• Inside Out

  • Bing Bong — Bing Bong is Riley’s imaginary friend in Inside Out, an elephant-cat hybrid who helps Joy and Sadness before sacrificing himself in the Memory Dump. The phrase “bing bong” also became a celebratory chant associated with New York Knicks fans.

  • Characters

    • Riley Andersen — Riley Andersen is the girl at the center of Inside Out, where Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust guide her emotions. In the sequel, she moves from Minnesota to San Francisco and tries out for the Firehawks hockey team.
• Japanese animation studios
  • Studio Ghibli Inc — Studio Ghibli is the Japanese animation studio associated with Hayao Miyazaki and many of Joe Hisaishi’s best-known scores. Its films include Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and The Wind Rises.
• Looney Tunes
  • Bugs Bunny
    • What’s Opera, Doc? — What’s Opera, Doc? is Chuck Jones’s 1957 Bugs Bunny cartoon parody of Wagnerian opera. It features Elmer Fudd singing “Kill the wabbit!” and a mock-heroic chase built around Brünnhilde imagery.
  • Duck Amuck — “Duck Amuck” is a Chuck Jones Looney Tunes short in which Daffy Duck is tormented by an unseen animator who constantly alters the scene. At the end, Bugs Bunny is revealed to be the one controlling the action.

• Meet the Robinsons — Meet the Robinsons is a Disney animated film about the inventor Lewis and his time-traveling future family. Its villain is the Bowler Hat Guy, later revealed as Michael “Goob” Yagoobian, and the film ends with the motto “Keep Moving Forward.”

• Nelvana
  • Rock & Rule — Rock & Rule is a 1980 animated film from Nelvana, their first feature, about musicians Angel and Omar fighting the occult rock villain Mok. It is remembered for ambitious animation techniques and a soundtrack featuring artists such as Blondie, Cheap Trick, Earth, Wind and Fire, Lou Reed, and Iggy Pop.
• Nick Park
  • The Wrong Trousers — The Wrong Trousers is a 1993 Wallace and Gromit short by Nick Park that runs about 30 minutes. It features Feathers McGraw, a diamond heist, and a climactic train chase involving Wallace laying track to catch the villain.
    • Feathers McGraw — Feathers McGraw is the silent penguin villain from Wallace and Gromit’s The Wrong Trousers. He disguises himself with a red rubber glove on his head and steals a diamond after manipulating Wallace’s robotic trousers.
  • Wallace and Gromit — Wallace and Gromit are the British claymation duo created by Nick Park, with Wallace the inventor and Gromit his silent dog. Their adventures include A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, and A Close Shave.
    • A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, and A Close Shave — The Wallace and Gromit trilogy consists of A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, and A Close Shave. These are the three classic Aardman short films centered on the inventor Wallace and his dog Gromit.

• Nimona — Nimona is a 2023 animated action-adventure adaptation centered on the title shapeshifter and Ballister Blackheart. The story follows a comic by Noelle Stevenson and includes the Institute of Law Enforcement and Heroics, Ambrosius Goldenloin, and a girl who insists she is a shark.

• Oliver and Company — Oliver and Company is Disney’s 1988 animated retelling of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist, set in contemporary New York. It features voices such as Joey Lawrence, Billy Joel, Bette Midler, Dom DeLuise, Huey Lewis, and Cheech Marin, and includes songs like “Why Should I Worry?” and “Once Upon a Time in New York City.” The story follows the cat Oliver and ends with his adoption by Jenny Foxworth after conflict with the villain Sykes.

• ParaNorman — ParaNorman is a 2012 Laika stop-motion film about a boy who can talk to ghosts. He helps save Blithe Hollow by lifting a witch’s curse and comforting the spirit of Agatha.

• Pixar films

  • Cars 2 — Cars 2 is Pixar’s 2011 sequel centered on Lightning McQueen and Mater and built around an international spy plot. Its story moves through places such as Tokyo and London and includes the racer Francesco Bernoulli.

  • Turning Red — Turning Red is the 2022 Pixar film about Meilin Lee, who becomes a giant red panda when her emotions spike. It is set in Toronto and centers on puberty, family, and the pop group 4*Town.

• Shark films
  • Deep Blue Sea — Deep Blue Sea is the 1999 shark thriller about genetically engineered mako sharks attacking a research facility. It is especially remembered for Samuel L. Jackson’s sudden death scene and for its cast including Thomas Jane and LL Cool J.

• Shark Tale — Shark Tale is a 2004 DreamWorks animated film about Oscar, a fish voiced by Will Smith, whose story involves gangsters, a loan shark, and celebrity voice casting. The movie is also known for its use of the song “Car Wash” and for fish characters voiced by Robert De Niro and Jack Black.

• Shrek — Shrek is DreamWorks’ animated ogre franchise about a swamp-dwelling title character, his wife Fiona, and his companion Donkey. The films are known for pop-music cues, fairy-tale parody, and Lord Farquaad in the original movie.

  • Lord Farquaad — Lord Farquaad is the short-lived villain of the first Shrek film, where he tries to expel fairy-tale creatures and marry Princess Fiona. The character was voiced by John Lithgow in the film and later appeared in Shrek-related adaptations.

  • Princess Fiona — Princess Fiona is the ogress princess from the Shrek films, voiced by Cameron Diaz. She is the daughter of King Harold and Queen Lillian, and she becomes Shrek’s wife after being rescued from a tower in the first film. Later entries portray her in alternate scenarios and as a mother to Felicia, Fergus, and Farkle.

  • settings

    • Far Far Away — Far Far Away is the fairytale kingdom in the Shrek films that serves as Princess Fiona’s homeland. Its landmarks include Romeo Drive and the parody shopping district seen in Shrek 2.

• Shrek 2 — Shrek 2 is the animated sequel in which Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey travel to Far Far Away and meet Prince Charming and King Harold. The film features the song “Accidentally in Love” and was once the highest-grossing animated film of all time.

• Spies in Disguise — Spies in Disguise is a 2019 animated action comedy in which Lance Sterling teams up with inventor Walter. Its plot involves drones, a bionic arm, and a gadget that lets Walter disguise people as pigeons.

• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron — Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is a DreamWorks animated film about a Kiger Mustang set in the American West. Matt Damon narrates the horse’s thoughts, while James Cromwell voices the Colonel and Bryan Adams provides the songs. The horse befriends the Lakota rider Little Creek and falls in love with Rain before escaping captivity and sabotaging railroad construction.

• The Incredibles — The Incredibles is the Pixar superhero film about the Parr family, whose members come out of hiding to battle Syndrome and his Omnidroids. It features Dash, Elastigirl, Frozone, and Edna’s famous disdain for capes.
  • Syndrome — Syndrome is the supervillain from The Incredibles who weaponizes technology and builds robot enforcers against the Parr family. He is the fan-favorite antagonist with the red hair, cape obsession, and the alter ego that emerges after he is rejected by Mr. Incredible.

• The Kissing Booth — The Kissing Booth is a Netflix teen-romcom franchise based on Beth Reekles’s books and starring Joey King, Jacob Elordi, and Joel Courtney. Its plot centers on implausible relationship drama, from the title charity carnival location to college admissions and school competitions.

• The Ladies Man — This film stars Tim Meadows as Leon Phelps, the smooth-talking radio host from the recurring Saturday Night Live sketch of the same name. Its comedy centers on Leon’s attempts to answer romantic questions while avoiding the chaos around him, with Billy Dee Williams appearing as a bar owner and narrator.

• The Last Starfighter — The Last Starfighter is a 1984 science-fiction film in which arcade expert Alex Rogan is recruited to fight an alien invasion. It is notable for its computer-generated special effects and for characters like Centauri and Grig.
  • Alex Roan — Alex Roan, usually credited simply as Alex, is the human lead in The Last Starfighter. He is the trailer-park teenager who is recruited after proving himself in the arcade-based game.

• The Lego Movie — The Lego Movie is the 2014 animated comedy about Emmet, Batman, and the hunt for the mysterious Kragle. It also features Benny, MetalBeard, and live-action framing scenes involving Finn and President Business.

• The Lion King — The Lion King is the Disney story of Simba, Mufasa, and the circle of life, adapted into a Broadway musical by Julie Taymor. Its signature songs include “Hakuna Matata” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” and its 2019 remake starred Beyoncé.

  • Be Prepared — “Be Prepared” is Scar’s villain song from The Lion King, performed to rally the hyenas before his plot against Mufasa and Simba. Its military-style imagery and marching chorus make it one of the film’s most memorable numbers.

  • Disney’s The Lion King — Disney’s The Lion King is the 1994 animated film that became the center of a controversy over a supposed hidden message in a dust swirl. The supposed image actually read SFX, a reference to Disney’s special effects department.

  • Mufasa — Mufasa is Simba’s father and the King of the Pride Lands in Disney’s The Lion King. The character was voiced by James Earl Jones in the 1994 film.

  • The Lion King 1½ — The Lion King 1½ is the Timon-and-Pumbaa midquel that retells the events of The Lion King from their perspective. It is framed as a theater watch-along and is known for its comic tone, unusual numbering, and characters such as Uncle Max and Shenzi.

  • Zazu — Zazu is the hornbill advisor to Mufasa in The Lion King. He is known for comic interruptions in “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” and for being voiced by Rowan Atkinson in some versions.

  • Hakuna Matata — “Hakuna Matata” is the Lion King song in which Timon, Pumbaa, and Simba sing the phrase that means “no worries.” The phrase is also the title of a song covered by Rancid and associated with the line about reggae echoes coming through a bedroom wall.

• The Little Mermaid

  • Scuttle — Scuttle is the Buddy Hackett-voiced seagull in The Little Mermaid who gives Ariel a fork and a pipe and misidentifies them as a dinglehopper and a snarfblatt. He is a comic scavenger character associated with Ariel’s first encounter with human objects.

  • The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea — The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea is the 2000 sequel to Disney’s The Little Mermaid, focusing on Ariel’s daughter Melody. The story brings back Sebastian and Flounder as Melody’s mother tries to stop Morgana’s plans.

  • Under the Sea — “Under the Sea” is Sebastian’s showpiece from Disney’s The Little Mermaid, written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. The song urges Ariel to stay underwater with lively calypso-style praise of ocean life, and it was famously parodied on The Simpsons.

• The Mighty Ducks — The Mighty Ducks is the Disney film series about a youth hockey team coached by Gordon Bombay, beginning with a lawyer forced to coach as community service. The franchise features players such as Charlie Conway, Adam Banks, and Greg Goldberg, and inspired an Anaheim NHL team of the same name.

• The Mitchells vs. the Machines — The Mitchells vs. the Machines is a Sony animated film about a family caught in an A.I. uprising. Its chaotic robot army includes a giant Furby and other malfunctioning machines that threaten the title family.

• The Mummy — The Mummy is the 1999 adventure film starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz as treasure-hunting Egyptologists. Quizbowl clues often point to its cursed Egyptian villain Imhotep and to the later Tom Cruise remake that launched the short-lived Dark Universe branding.
  • The Scorpion King — The Scorpion King is the spin-off hero from The Mummy Returns, where Dwayne Johnson first played the warrior Mathayus. Later films follow his rise as a fighter and king, often pairing him with figures like Cassandra, Balthazar, and Memnon.

• The Muppet Christmas Carol — The Muppet Christmas Carol is the 1992 Muppet adaptation of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol starring Michael Caine as Scrooge. Gonzo serves as Charles Dickens, and the film is especially remembered for the line about Tiny Tim not dying.

• The Muppets Take Manhattan — The Muppets Take Manhattan is a 1984 film in which the troupe heads to New York trying to launch a Broadway show. It also features Kermit and Miss Piggy’s wedding, along with songs like “Somebody’s Gettin’ Married” and “Rat Scat.” The story includes Kermit being hit by a bus and briefly believing his name is Phil before recovering his memory. The cast also includes Brooke Shields, Liza Minnelli, Elliott Gould, and Ed Koch.

• The Prince of Egypt — DreamWorks’ animated film about Moses and the Exodus, following Moses and the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt. Its signature song is “When You Believe,” and the cast includes Val Kilmer and Sandra Bullock.

• The Princess and the Frog — The Princess and the Frog is the 2009 Disney film set in New Orleans that follows Tiana and Prince Naveen after a voodoo curse turns them into frogs. It is notable as Disney’s first film to feature an African-American princess.
  • Prince Naveen — Prince Naveen is the Maldonian prince in The Princess and the Frog, where he is transformed into a frog by Facilier. After Tiana kisses him, he remains a frog until the story ends with their marriage.
• The Rescuers — The Rescuers is the Disney animated film in which Bernard and Bianca try to save the kidnapped Penny from Madame Medusa and Snoops. The film features the Devil’s Eye diamond, the dragonfly Evinrude, and the song “Someone’s Waiting for You,” and it later became infamous for a recalled frame containing a topless figure.
  • The Rescuers Down Under — The Rescuers Down Under is the Disney sequel to The Rescuers, released between The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. The film follows Bernard and Bianca as they team with Jake to rescue an endangered species, with Wilbur the albatross also appearing.

• The Road to El Dorado — The Road to El Dorado is a DreamWorks animated film about two Spanish con men who search the New World for a lost city of gold. Tulio and Miguel are the central pair, and Chel is the native woman who helps them.

• The Secret of NIMH — The Secret of NIMH is a 1982 Don Bluth animated film based on Robert C. O’Brien’s Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. It follows Mrs. Brisby and her family as they seek help from intelligent rats, with voices including Wil Wheaton and Shannon Doherty.

• The Snowman — The Snowman is the 1982 animated short film based on Raymond Briggs’s picture book, famous for the song “Walking in the Air.” It is often confused with the 2017 crime film of the same title, but the animated version is the Christmas special with music by Howard Blake.

• The Transformers: The Movie — The Transformers: The Movie is the 1986 animated film whose soundtrack includes “Dare” and “The Touch.” It is also remembered as the final acting role for both Scatman Crothers and Orson Welles.

• Transformers

  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen — Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the 2009 sequel in the live-action Transformers film series. It follows Sam Witwicky, features the Matrix of Leadership and the Sun Harvester, and centers on a turncoat Prime allied with the Decepticons.

  • Transformers: The Movie — Transformers: The Movie is the 1986 animated film featuring voices by Orson Welles, Leonard Nimoy, Judd Nelson, and Eric Idle. It is remembered for the deaths of major characters like Optimus Prime and Megatron and for the climactic battle with Unicron.

• Tron — Tron is the pioneering computer-graphics film about a programmer pulled into a digital world and forced to compete in light-cycle games. Its imagery and franchise spin-offs helped make it a touchstone for early CGI and arcade tie-ins.

• Turbo — This 2013 DreamWorks animated film features a snail who gains speed after being sucked into a Chevrolet Camaro and infused with nitrous oxide. Its title character, Theodore, idolizes Guy Gagné and wins the Indianapolis 500 after becoming Turbo.

• WALL-E — WALL-E is a Pixar film about a trash-compacting robot left to clean up an abandoned Earth. Key clues include EVE, the Axiom, Buy n Large, Operation Recolonize, and the return of a plant to Earth. It also features Captain McCrea’s complaint that he does not want to survive, he wants to live, and the song “Put On Your Sunday Clothes.”

• Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit — Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a stop-motion animated film centered on the inventor Wallace and his dog Gromit. The movie involves their humane pest-control business, a giant vegetable competition, and a monster rabbit terrorizing the neighborhood.

• Walt Disney

  • Mickey Mouse — Mickey Mouse is Walt Disney’s iconic rodent mascot, first appearing in Steamboat Willie and later starring in Fantasia and Kingdom Hearts. He is also associated with the copyright-extension “Sonny Bono” law and with countless theme-park and media appearances.

  • Oswald the Lucky Rabbit — Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was an early Walt Disney cartoon character who appeared in silent shorts such as Poor Papa and Trolley Troubles before Disney lost the rights to Universal. He later became famous in trivia for being traded back from Universal to Disney, along with the Al Michaels/NBC deal analogy often used as a clue.

  • Steamboat Willie — Steamboat Willie is the 1928 Disney cartoon that introduced Mickey Mouse in synchronized sound form. Its famous scenes include Mickey on the steamboat, a whistling wheel, and the barnyard performance of “Turkey in the Straw.”

• Walt Disney Animation Studios
  • Disney’s Nine Old Men — Disney’s Nine Old Men were the core group of Disney animators and directors who shaped the studio’s classic animated features. They are associated with The Illusion of Life and the Twelve Principles of Animation, and members include Ward Kimball, Ollie Johnston, and Les Clark.
• Winsor McCay
  • Gertie — Gertie is the famous animated dinosaur created by Winsor McCay for early film and vaudeville exhibition. She was designed to appear to interact live with a stage performer, making her a landmark in animation history.

Related Works, People, and Context

• Action Jackson — Action Jackson is a 1988 action film starring Carl Weathers as Jericho Jackson, a Detroit police detective. It is a rhyme-titled thriller noted for casting Sharon Stone, Vanity, and Craig T. Nelson.

• Adaptation
  • The Three — The Three is the title of Donald Kaufman’s fictional screenplay in Adaptation, a thriller about a killer with multiple personalities.
• British film movements
  • Angry Young Man cinema — Angry Young Man cinema, also called Kitchen Sink cinema, was a British film movement focused on working-class life and social realism. Films such as The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner are associated with it.

• Cinema Novo — Cinema Novo was the politically engaged Brazilian film movement of the 1960s and 1970s associated with Glauber Rocha and other directors such as Ruy Guerra. Influenced by neorealism and the French New Wave, it promoted an “aesthetics of hunger” and films like Black God, White Devil and Barren Lives.

• Film movements

  • Dogma 95 — Dogma 95 was the Danish film movement whose manifesto rejected artificial lighting, added sound, props, optical tricks, and non-handheld camera work. Its rules aimed to strip filmmaking down to location, performance, and immediacy.

  • French New Wave — The French film movement of the 1950s and 1960s associated with low-budget, studio-independent filmmaking and a break from classical style. It was championed by Cahiers du Cinéma and André Bazin and linked to directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Agnès Varda, Claude Chabrol, Éric Rohmer, and Alain Resnais. It rejected the “Tradition of Quality,” and works associated with it include Breathless, The 400 Blows, and Night and Fog.

  • Italian Neorealism — Italian Neorealism was the postwar film movement associated with Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, and other directors who aimed for plain, unsentimental realism. It centered on ordinary lives, poverty, and location shooting with amateur performers. Signature films include Rome: Open City and Bicycle Thieves (also cited as Rome, Open City and The Bicycle Thief).

  • Third Cinema — Third Cinema, or Tercer Cine, was a Latin American film movement that opposed both commercial studio filmmaking and isolated auteurism. Associated with Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino, it emphasized revolutionary politics and social struggle in works such as Blood of the Condor and Death of a Bureaucrat.

• French cinema
  • French filmmakers
    • Jean Vigo — Jean Vigo was a French filmmaker who died young after making only a few films. He is best known for Zero for Conduct and L’Atalante, works that helped anticipate the French New Wave.
      • L’Atalante — L’Atalante is Jean Vigo’s 1934 film about newlyweds Jean and Juliette living on a canal barge. The film is remembered for its lyrical river images, the eccentric bargee Père Jules, and the song “Le chaland qui passe.”
• French entertainers
  • Josephine Baker — Josephine Baker was an American-born dancer and singer who became a sensation in Paris in the 1920s. She is famous for the banana-skirt performance at the Folies Bergère, her pet cheetah Chiquita, and later support for the French Resistance. She also starred in films such as Zouzou and Siren of the Tropics and performed “J’ai deux amours.” In later life she adopted the “Rainbow Tribe” of children and became a civil rights symbol.
• French filmmakers
  • Chris Marker — Chris Marker was a French experimental filmmaker known for Sans Soleil, La Jetée, and The Last Bolshevik. His films often mix voice-over, still images, political reflection, and collage-like editing, with recurring images of memory, travel, and postwar history.

    • Sans Soleil — Sans Soleil is a 1983 cine-essay by Chris Marker, structured as letters from the fictional cameraman Sandor Krasna. It ranges across images from Iceland, Japan, and Africa and is known in English as Sunless.

    • La Jetée — La Jetée is Chris Marker’s science-fiction short film composed almost entirely of still photographs and voiceover. It follows a man haunted by a childhood image at Orly Airport and later adapted Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys.

  • Jacques Tati — Jacques Tati was a French filmmaker and comedian best known for portraying Monsieur Hulot. His films include Jour de fête, Mon Oncle, and Play Time, all marked by precise visual comedy and elaborate staging.

    • Monsieur Hulot — Monsieur Hulot is Jacques Tati’s pipe-smoking, overcoat-wearing comic character. He appears in Mon Oncle and Playtime, where his awkward encounters with modern design and technology generate visual gags.

    • Play Time — Play Time is Jacques Tati’s 1967 film in which Monsieur Hulot wanders through a gleaming modern Paris. Its humor comes from the way architecture, glass, steel, and bureaucracy frustrate ordinary social contact.

    • Playtime — Playtime is Jacques Tati’s 1967 film about modern Paris, with Monsieur Hulot drifting through glassy, highly constructed spaces. It is known for its large sets, static framing, and the Royal Garden restaurant sequence.

  • Leos Carax — Leos Carax is a French filmmaker known for visually flamboyant films such as Mauvais Sang, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, Holy Motors, and Annette. His work often features Denis Lavant and elaborate tracking shots set to pop songs like David Bowie’s “Modern Love” and Iggy Pop’s “Strong Girl.”

  • Luc Besson — Luc Besson is a French filmmaker associated with the Cinéma du look style, especially in films like Subway, Nikita, and The Big Blue. He also wrote and directed The Fifth Element and Léon: The Professional, helping make him one of the best-known commercial directors of modern French cinema.

    • The Fifth Element — The Fifth Element is Luc Besson’s 1997 sci-fi adventure about Korben Dallas, Leeloo, and the search for the four stones needed to stop an approaching evil. It features Ruby Rhod, the diva Plavalaguna, and the futuristic opera setting at Fhloston Paradise.

    • Leon: The Professional — Leon: The Professional is Luc Besson’s film about a lonely hitman who befriends the young Mathilda. Jean Reno plays Leon, Gary Oldman plays Norman Stansfield, and Natalie Portman made her film debut as Mathilda.

  • Abel Gance — Abel Gance was a pioneering French filmmaker often called the “French Griffith.” He is best known for Napoleon and for technical experiments such as Polyvision, split screens, and rapid editing in films like J’Accuse and The Wheel.
• Independent film movements
  • Mumblecore — Mumblecore is an American independent film movement known for naturalistic dialogue, low budgets, and amateur or lightly trained performers. Films in the movement often follow young adults in improvised, relationship-driven stories and include works by the Duplass brothers and Greta Gerwig.
• James Bond

  • Bond girls — Bond girls are the actresses and characters who serve as James Bond’s romantic or sexual counterparts in the film series. Examples mentioned include Honey Ryder, Tracy Draco, Vesper Lynd, and Madeleine Swann.

  • Diamonds Are Forever — Diamonds Are Forever is a 1971 James Bond film starring Sean Connery, with Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd among its assassins. Its plot centers on diamond smuggling and a laser weapon scheme, with parts of Las Vegas standing in for the villain’s compound.
    • Plenty O’Toole — Plenty O’Toole is a brief Bond girl in Diamonds Are Forever, played by Lana Wood. She appears in Las Vegas, is later thrown out of a window, and is remembered for the joke about being named after her father.

  • Die Another Day — Die Another Day is the 2002 James Bond film and Pierce Brosnan’s final outing as 007. Its clues include the Cuba genetic-research facility, Jinx, Gustav Graves, and a series of references to earlier Bond movies.

  • Dr. Julius No — Dr. Julius No is the first James Bond film villain, the SPECTRE agent played by Joseph Wiseman. He operates from Crab Key and is known for his metal hands and dextrocardia.

  • Dr. No — Dr. No is the first James Bond film, introducing the gun-barrel sequence and Sean Connery as Bond. The story sends Bond to Jamaica, where he confronts the title villain’s lair, the spider and tarantula threats, and Honey Ryder. Connery’s introduction “Bond, James Bond” became a recurring catchphrase.

  • Ernst Stavro Blofeld — Ernst Stavro Blofeld is the recurring head of SPECTRE in the James Bond series. He is often depicted with a white cat and appears in films such as You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and Diamonds Are Forever.

  • From Russia with Love — From Russia with Love is the second James Bond film, starring Sean Connery as Bond in a plot to steal a Soviet Lektor device. It features Red Grant, Rosa Klebb, and the poisoned shoe, along with the Orient Express and the famous briefcase trap aboard a train.

  • GoldenEye — GoldenEye is the 1995 James Bond film that introduced Pierce Brosnan as Bond and inspired the famous 1997 Rare video game adaptation. The film also features Xenia Onatopp, Boris Grishenko, and the BMW Z3 roadster.
    • Xenia Onatopp — Xenia Onatopp is the GoldenEye villainess played by Famke Janssen, a former Soviet fighter pilot and assassin. She is infamous for seducing victims and killing them by crushing them with her thighs.
  • Goldfinger — Goldfinger is the 1964 James Bond film featuring Auric Goldfinger, Oddjob, Pussy Galore, and the Fort Knox plot. Its clues often include the laser threat, the line “No…I expect you to die,” and Bond’s first on-screen request for a shaken, not stirred martini.

    • Auric Goldfinger — Auric Goldfinger is the James Bond villain who plans Operation Grand Slam and threatens Bond with his namesake style of murder. He is aided by Oddjob, the Korean henchman with the metal-rimmed hat, in the 1964 film Goldfinger.

    • Pussy Galore — Pussy Galore is a Bond character from Goldfinger who leads her own flying circus and ultimately defects from Auric Goldfinger’s scheme. She is one of the franchise’s most notorious women, with a name that made her especially memorable in clues and film dialogue.

  • James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing — James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing is a third-person action game in the Bond franchise, released in 2004. It featured an original song by Mya and appearances or voice work from Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench, John Cleese, and other celebrity actors.

  • Licence to Kill — Licence to Kill is the 1989 James Bond film starring Timothy Dalton as Bond and Robert Davi as drug lord Franz Sanchez. It is based partly on ‘The Hildebrand Rarity’ and is known for the death of Della Leiter and a title song performed by Gladys Knight.
    • Truman-Lodge — Truman-Lodge is the accountant in Licence to Kill who is killed as part of Sanchez’s cost-cutting. The character is played by Anthony Starke, who is also known for playing “The Jimmy” on Seinfeld.

  • License to Kill — License to Kill is the 1989 James Bond film in which Felix Leiter is mutilated and Franz Sanchez is the main villain. Its drug-cartel plot involves cocaine being dissolved in gasoline and a final confrontation involving tanker trucks and explosives.

  • Live and Let Die — “Live and Let Die” is a James Bond theme song by Wings and the title of the first Roger Moore Bond film. The film features Dr. Kananga, Baron Samedi, and Tee Hee, while the song moves from orchestral writing into reggae and hard rock.

  • Miss Moneypenny — Miss Moneypenny is M’s flirtatious secretary in the James Bond films. She is often identified by her playful competence, enduring presence across the series, and occasional references to hobbies such as baking and music.

  • Never Say Never Again — Never Say Never Again is the unofficial 1983 James Bond film in which Sean Connery returned as Bond after a long absence. It is a remake of Thunderball and features Kim Basinger, Klaus Maria Brandauer as Largo, and a finale at the Tears of Allah.

  • No Time to Die — No Time to Die is the 2021 James Bond film that served as Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007. It features Safin, Dr. Swann, Paloma, and Billie Eilish’s title song, and it won Eilish an Oscar for the theme.

  • Octopussy — Octopussy is a James Bond film starring Roger Moore as 007 and Maud Adams as the title character. Its clues include Fabergé eggs, Kamal Khan, General Orlov, and the climactic bomb plot at a West German air base.

  • Oddjob — Oddjob is Auric Goldfinger’s silent henchman in Goldfinger, best known for the deadly razor-brimmed hat he throws. He is the one who kills with that weapon before being electrocuted at Fort Knox.

  • On Her Majesty’s Secret Service — On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is the 1969 James Bond film starring George Lazenby. It is identified by Piz Gloria, the death of Tracy di Vicenzo, the line “We have all the time in the world,” and Bond’s marriage.

  • Skyfall — Skyfall is the James Bond film in which Raoul Silva confronts Bond and the final battle ends at Bond’s Scottish family estate. It also shares its title with Adele’s Oscar-winning theme song, which became one of the franchise’s best-known ballads.

  • The Living Daylights — The Living Daylights is the 1987 James Bond film that first starred Timothy Dalton as 007. It begins with Bond helping cellist Kara Milovy and later centers on the apparent assassination of Leonid Pushkin, with the plot moving through Vienna, Morocco, and Afghanistan.

  • The Spy Who Loved Me — The Spy Who Loved Me is an Ian Fleming novel and a James Bond film title, with the movie starring Roger Moore and Barbara Bach. The film features Jaws, Anya Amasova, and the villain Karl Stromberg, while the novel centers more narrowly on Vivienne Michel.

  • The World Is Not Enough — The World Is Not Enough is the 1999 James Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau, and Denise Richards. It features Christmas Jones, the villain Renard, and the Bond family motto that gives the movie its title.

  • Theme music
    • The James Bond theme — The James Bond Theme is the famous instrumental associated with the James Bond films, built around a surf-guitar riff and brass fanfare. It is usually credited to Monty Norman, with arrangements commonly associated with John Barry.

  • Thunderball — Thunderball is the 1965 James Bond film in which Bond recovers stolen nuclear bombs from SPECTRE. It features Sean Connery’s Bond, the villain Emilio Largo, and the underwater action sequence that made it one of the series’ biggest spectacles. It is also famous as the title of both a Bond novel and a film theme. The movie was originally intended to be the first Bond release but ended up appearing fourth.

  • You Only Live Twice — You Only Live Twice is a 1967 James Bond film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Sean Connery. Its plot centers on SPECTRE’s efforts to trigger conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union through sabotage in space, while Bond works in Japan with Tiger Tanaka and Kissy Suzuki.
• James Bond films

  • A View to a Kill — A View to a Kill is the James Bond film with the Duran Duran theme song and stars Tanya Roberts and Christopher Walken. It is one of the later Roger Moore Bond films and is often remembered for its title song and villainous plot.

  • For Your Eyes Only — For Your Eyes Only is a 1981 James Bond film directed by John Glen and starring Roger Moore. Its plot centers on recovering the ATAC device, and it features Melina Havelock and Kristatos.

  • Moonraker — Moonraker is a James Bond film in which Bond investigates Hugo Drax and his space-based scheme. It is remembered for Jaws, the Venice orchid plotline, and the aerial action sequence above Rio de Janeiro.
    • Dr. Holly Goodhead — Dr. Holly Goodhead is the CIA agent and astronaut from Moonraker, played by Lois Chiles. She poses as part of the shuttle program while secretly investigating a nerve gas facility, and her gadgets help her join James Bond against Hugo Drax. She is a Bond girl in the film.
  • The Man with the Golden Gun — The Man with the Golden Gun is the James Bond film featuring the assassin Francisco Scaramanga, played by Christopher Lee. It is a common clue for Roger Moore’s Bond era and for Scaramanga’s golden weapon and duel with Bond.
• Jason Bourne
  • The Bourne Supremacy — The Bourne Supremacy is the 2004 sequel in the Jason Bourne film series, following the amnesiac spy after the shutdown of Treadstone. It centers on Bourne’s efforts to evade CIA pursuit and protect Nikki, Pam, and Maria while Kirill and Pamela Landy move against him.
• Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
  • Meet the Spartans — Meet the Spartans is a parody film from Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer that spoofs 300 with Sean Maguire as Leonidas and Carmen Electra as Queen Margo. Its jokes center on pop-culture references, celebrity cameos, and broad gross-out comedy.
• The Matrix

  • Agent Smith — Agent Smith is the Matrix trilogy’s main antagonist, a program that fights Neo and can copy himself into other hosts inside the Matrix. He is portrayed by Hugo Weaving and is associated with the line that humanity is a virus.

  • Cypher — Cypher is the traitor in The Matrix who wants to return to his former life as Mr. Reagan. He betrays the Nebuchadnezzar to the Agents, helping lead to Morpheus’s capture before being killed by Tank.

  • The Animatrix — The Animatrix is a collection of nine animated shorts tied to The Matrix universe and set just before the 2003 sequel. The anthology includes stories such as “The Second Renaissance,” “Final Flight of the Osiris,” and “Kid’s Story.”

  • The Matrix Reloaded — The Matrix Reloaded is the Wachowskis’ 2003 sequel to The Matrix, continuing Neo’s conflict with Agent Smith and the machines. Its cast includes Jada Pinkett Smith, Monica Bellucci, Hugo Weaving, and Keanu Reeves, and it is known for its elaborate action set pieces and visual effects.

  • The Matrix Revolutions — The Matrix Revolutions is the third film in the Matrix trilogy, following The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded. It continues the series’ story of humanity trapped in a virtual reality, with Neo’s encounter with Rama-Kandra underscoring the trilogy’s concern with love and choice.

  • The Oracle — The Oracle is the prophetic Matrix character who guides the One and gives cryptic advice about the balance of the system. She appears in the trilogy as an elderly woman who bakes cookies and is portrayed by Gloria Foster and Mary Alice.

New German Cinema and Postwar European Movements

• New German Cinema — West German art film movement of the late 1960s–1980s; Oberhausen Manifesto (1962) declared the death of the old German cinema and the birth of a new one; key directors include Herzog, Fassbinder, Wenders, and Schlöndorff.

• Rainer Werner Fassbinder — extraordinarily prolific; over 40 films in roughly 15 years; The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979); influenced by Douglas Sirk’s melodramas. He was a prolific West German director who also adapted Berlin Alexanderplatz and made over forty films before dying at age 37.

  • Ali: Fear Eats the Soul — Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Ali: Fear Eats the Soul follows an older German cleaning woman, Emmi, who marries a younger Moroccan guestworker named Ali and faces prejudice from her children and neighbors. The film echoes Douglas Sirk melodrama, especially All That Heaven Allows, through its pointed staging of public alienation and domestic cruelty. Its ending leaves Emmi at her husband’s hospital bedside after his ulcer worsens.

  • The Marriage of Maria Braun — The Marriage of Maria Braun is a West German film and the first installment of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s BRD trilogy. It follows Maria’s rise in postwar Germany through her marriage, her affair with industrialist Karl Oswald, and the lingering trauma of Hermann’s absence.

• Volker Schlöndorff — The Tin Drum (1979, Palme d’Or and Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film).

• Dogme 95 — Danish filmmaking manifesto signed by Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg in 1995; “Vow of Chastity” rules banned artificial lighting, non-diegetic music, genre films, and post-production alterations; key films include Vinterberg’s The Celebration (1998) and von Trier’s The Idiots (1998). Its Vow of Chastity also required location shooting and handheld camerawork, and it rejected director credit and other artificial embellishments.

• Lars von Trier — Danish provocateur; Breaking the Waves (1996), Dancer in the Dark (2000, Palme d’Or), Dogville (2003), Melancholia (2011), The House That Jack Built (2018); co-founder of Dogme 95. He is associated with provocative dramas such as Antichrist and Nymphomaniac, and co-founded Dogme 95 with Thomas Vinterberg. His films are often marked by austerity and intense psychological suffering.
  • Melancholia — Melancholia is Lars von Trier’s 2011 film about sisters Justine and Claire as the planet Melancholia approaches a collision with Earth. Its opening uses Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, and the film closes with the two sisters sheltering in a twig fort as the planet destroys the world. Quizbowl clues often mention Justine’s wedding breakdown, the golf-course scene, and the surreal montage of birds and Brueghel’s Hunters in the Snow. The film is one of von Trier’s most famous works.

• Thomas Vinterberg — Danish director; The Celebration (Festen, 1998); The Hunt (2012); Another Round (2020, Best International Feature Film Oscar).

• Werner Herzog — New German Cinema; Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982); intense collaboration/conflict with actor Klaus Kinski. He later directed documentaries such as Grizzly Man and Into the Abyss, often centering on obsession, endurance, and extremity. His work often features extreme production conditions, documentary intensity, and recurring collaboration with Klaus Kinski.

  • Aguirre, the Wrath of God — Aguirre, the Wrath of God is Werner Herzog’s film about a doomed conquistador expedition searching for El Dorado. Klaus Kinski stars as the title figure, whose descent into jungle madness ends with his obsession with founding a pure dynasty.

  • Fitzcarraldo — Fitzcarraldo is Werner Herzog’s 1982 film about a man in Peru who tries to haul a steamship over a hill to reach another river. Its difficult production was documented in Les Blank’s Burden of Dreams.

  • Grizzly Man — Grizzly Man is Werner Herzog’s 2005 documentary about Timothy Treadwell, a bear enthusiast who lived among grizzlies in Alaska. The film uses Treadwell’s own footage and centers on the fatal attack that killed him and Amie Huguenard.

• Wim Wenders — Paris, Texas (1984, Palme d’Or), Wings of Desire (1987). He is a German filmmaker whose later work includes Buena Vista Social Club and Pina, and his films often mix road-movie imagery, music documentaries, and contemplative city wandering.

  • Paris, Texas — Paris, Texas is Wim Wenders’s 1984 film about Travis Henderson, a silent drifter who reemerges from the desert after years of absence. The film is remembered for its peep-show reunion scene, Sam Shepard’s screenplay, and the long monologue about a man and his wife separated by a one-way mirror.

  • Until the End of the World — Wim Wenders’s 1991 film Until the End of the World is a road movie set against a looming satellite crisis and follows Claire through dreamlike, globe-spanning dislocation. Its soundtrack is also a clue, including U2’s title track and Lou’s song “What’s Good.”

  • Wings of Desire — Wings of Desire is Wim Wenders’s film about angels watching over divided Berlin. Damiel gives up immortality to become human, and Peter Falk appears as a former angelic observer.

Directors and Regional Traditions

Learn directors through their regional traditions and major films.

Major Directors: World Cinema

Japan

• Akira Kurosawa — the most internationally celebrated Japanese director; Rashomon (1950, introduced Japanese cinema to Western audiences, Venice Golden Lion); Ikiru (1952); Seven Samurai (1954); Yojimbo (1961); Ran (1985). His samurai films were remade as Westerns (The Magnificent Seven, A Fistful of Dollars). His other notable films include Throne of Blood, Red Beard, High and Low, Dreams, Madadayo, and Sanshiro Sugata, which brought him early prominence in the 1940s. He also worked as a scenario writer and became one of the most influential directors in world cinema.

  • Ikiru — Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film follows the bureaucrat Kanji Watanabe, who learns he has terminal stomach cancer and tries to make something meaningful of his final months by pushing to build a park and children’s playground. It ends with him quietly singing on a swing in the snow.

  • Kagemusha — Kagemusha is Akira Kurosawa’s 1980 film about a thief who impersonates the dead warlord Shingen. It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and centers on the use of a double in samurai politics.

  • Ran — Akira Kurosawa’s 1985 film adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, set among warring Japanese clans. It centers on the warlord Hidetora Ichimonji and his three sons as retainers and family turn against him, with Lady Kaede helping drive the tragedy and the collapse of Hidetora’s kingdom into chaos. The film is noted for its vivid battle colors.

  • Sanjuro — Sanjuro is Akira Kurosawa’s sequel to Yojimbo, starring Toshiro Mifune as the wandering samurai who helps protect a bumbling clan. He is known for cutting down dozens of enemies, and the film’s comic relief includes a hidden spy and the title character repeatedly being awakened by his inept allies.

  • Seven Samurai — Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 film about ronin or hired swordsmen defending a farming village from bandits during the Sengoku era. The group includes Kambei, Kyuzo, Kikuchiyo, and the others, and the film’s final line, spoken by Kambei, contrasts the samurai’s defeat with the farmers’ victory. Common details include one samurai’s peasant disguise, the youngest samurai’s romance, and the comic horse-riding scene. It later inspired The Magnificent Seven.

  • The Hidden Fortress — The 1958 adventure film directed by Akira Kurosawa stars Toshiro Mifune as a general escorting a disguised princess through enemy territory while carrying gold, alongside two peasant comic companions. It ends with a bleak statement about victory for the peasants and is often cited as a major influence on Star Wars, with its comic pair frequently noted as inspiration for the Star Wars droids.

  • Throne of Blood — Akira Kurosawa’s 1957 film adaptation of Macbeth, set in feudal Japan. It stars Toshiro Mifune as Washizu and follows Washizu and his wife Asaji as prophecy, ambition, and murder drive him toward betrayal and downfall; it ends with Washizu being killed by his own archers after a prophecy from a forest spirit.

  • Dersu Uzala — Dersu Uzala is Akira Kurosawa’s Japanese-Russian film about a Russian army officer and an Asiatic guide in the Siberian wilderness. It won the 1975 Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

  • Rashomon — Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 film adaptation of Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s work, built around a violent crime—especially a murder—recounted in contradictory flashbacks from different witnesses and perspectives. It became famous for its exploration of subjectivity and unreliable perspective, won the Golden Lion, and later inspired The Outrage.

  • Red Beard — Akira Kurosawa’s 1965 film about a young doctor apprenticed to a stern but compassionate provincial physician in rural Japan. The title refers to the doctor’s distinctive red facial hair.

  • Rhapsody in August — Rhapsody in August is Akira Kurosawa’s 1991 film about the memory of the Nagasaki bombing. It notably casts Richard Gere as a Japanese-American character and is one of Kurosawa’s late, reflective works.

  • Yojimbo — Akira Kurosawa’s 1961 jidaigeki film about the wandering ronin Sanjuro, who manipulates two rival gangs in a ruined town into destroying each other. Its plot inspired Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars.

• Yasujiro Ozu — master of quiet family drama; Tokyo Story (1953); low camera angles (“tatami shot”); elliptical editing. He also directed Late Spring. His films often use pillow shots and empty-room imagery to emphasize domestic life and generational change.
  • Tokyo Story — Yasujirō Ozu’s 1953 family drama about an elderly couple, Shukichi and Tomi Hirayama, who travel from Onomichi to Tokyo to visit their grown children, only to find them too busy to spend time with them. The film is known for its spare style, with very little camera movement, almost static camera placement, low-angle composition, and quiet transitional “pillow shots.” The widowed daughter-in-law Noriko, played by Setsuko Hara, treats the couple with genuine warmth, standing out as the family member who shows them kindness.
• Kenji Mizoguchi — long-take style; female protagonists; Ugetsu (1953), Sansho the Bailiff (1954). His other major films include The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums, The Life of Oharu, and The Crucified Lovers. He was a major Japanese director of elegant historical dramas, and his style was often described as “one scene, one cut.”
  • Ugetsu — Ugetsu is Kenji Mizoguchi’s ghostly wartime film about the potter Genjūrō and his brother Tobei, whose ambitions draw them away from their village. The film is best known for its moonlit lake passage and Genjūrō’s encounter with Lady Wakasa.
• Hayao Miyazaki / Studio Ghibli — co-founded Studio Ghibli (1985) with Isao Takahata; Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2002, Academy Award Best Animated Feature, first non-English-language animated film to win). Retired and un-retired multiple times; The Boy and the Heron (2023).
  • Studio Ghibli

    • From Up on Poppy Hill — Goro Miyazaki’s film follows Umi and Shun as they try to save a school clubhouse from demolition ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. The movie is From Up on Poppy Hill.

    • Isao Takahata — Isao Takahata was a Studio Ghibli director whose films include Grave of the Fireflies, Only Yesterday, My Neighbors the Yamadas, and The Tale of Princess Kaguya. His work is often noted for emotional realism, stylized visual experimentation, and his final documentary-like film on the canals of Yanagawa.

      • Grave of the Fireflies — Isao Takahata’s Studio Ghibli World War II anime film about Seita and Setsuko, two orphaned siblings struggling to survive after their home is destroyed in wartime Japan. It is adapted from Akiyuki Nosaka’s semi-autobiographical novel. Commonly noted details include the firebombing of Kobe, a bomb shelter, and the siblings’ deaths from malnutrition.
• Hirokazu Kore-eda — contemporary director; Shoplifters (2018, Palme d’Or). Japanese director known for intimate family dramas and quietly devastating social realism. His films include Nobody Knows, and Shoplifters won the 2018 Palme d’Or.
  • Monster — Monster is a title shared by songs, films, and other pop-culture works, but one common clue points to the 2003 film about Aileen Wuornos starring Charlize Theron. The title also appears in Kanye West, Rihanna, and BTS references, especially in the phrase “Rap Monster.”

• Seijun Suzuki — Japanese genre director at Nikkatsu; Branded to Kill (1967); transgressive style led to his dismissal from the studio. He is especially remembered for Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter, and for being fired by Nikkatsu after his eccentric style.

• Masaki Kobayashi — Harakiri (1962), Kwaidan (1964, Cannes Special Jury Prize); humanist themes and formal rigor. He was a Japanese film director and former prisoner of war. He is also known for The Human Condition, an antiwar epic that criticizes militarism and reflects his critical view of authority and samurai honor.
  • Kwaidan — Kwaidan is a 1964 Japanese horror film by Masaki Kobayashi based on stories collected by Lafcadio Hearn. Its episodic tales include Yuki-onna and the story of Hoichi the Earless.

• Kon Ichikawa — Fires on the Plain (1959), An Actor’s Revenge (1963); wide tonal range from anti-war drama to dark comedy.

• Kurosawa — Kurosawa is the surname shared by Akira Kurosawa and Kiyoshi Kurosawa, two major Japanese film directors. The clues point to works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Cure, Pulse, and Tokyo Sonata.

• Makoto Shinkai — Makoto Shinkai is a Japanese anime director known for Your Name, 5 Centimeters Per Second, and The Garden of Words. His work also includes Children Who Chase Lost Voices, a fantasy film about a girl possessed by her mother’s spirit and a crystal called the clavis.

• Japanese filmmakers
  • Hayao Miyazaki — Japanese animator and director who co-founded Studio Ghibli. His films include Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and The Wind Rises.

    • Howl’s Moving Castle — Howl’s Moving Castle is Hayao Miyazaki’s 2004 animated fantasy film based on Diana Wynne Jones’s novel. It follows Sophie, the wizard Howl, the fire demon Calcifer, and the walking castle that can shift its doorway to different places.

    • Kiki’s Delivery Service — A 1989 Studio Ghibli film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, adapted from Eiko Kadono’s novel. It follows 13-year-old witch Kiki and her black talking cat Jiji after she leaves home to continue her training and starts a delivery business as an air courier in a new city.

    • My Neighbor Totoro — My Neighbor Totoro is Hayao Miyazaki’s 1988 Studio Ghibli film about two sisters who move to the countryside and encounter friendly forest spirits. Its signature fantastical detail is the Catbus, which carries Mei and Satsuki in the film’s final scenes.
      • Totoro — Totoro is the furry forest spirit from My Neighbor Totoro, a Studio Ghibli film directed by Hayao Miyazaki. He is famous for the bus-stop umbrella scene, the Catbus, and his role as the studio mascot.

    • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind — Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a 1984 animated film by Hayao Miyazaki. It adapts a manga serialized in Animage and follows a princess trying to save a polluted world.

    • Ponyo — Ponyo is a Studio Ghibli film about a goldfish girl who wants to become human. The English-language adaptation features voices including Noah Cyrus, Tina Fey, Liam Neeson, and Cate Blanchett, and the heroine’s birth name is Brunhilde.

    • Porco Rosso — Porco Rosso is a Hayao Miyazaki film about an Italian World War I fighter ace who becomes a pig-faced freelance hunter of air pirates. The film also features the hotel manager Gina and the engineer Fio.

    • Princess Mononoke — A Hayao Miyazaki film set in the Muromachi period, centered on Ashitaka’s struggle to reconcile humans and the forest gods/spirits. Key details include San, Yakul, the cursed boar god Nago, Irontown, the wolf tribe, and the ending in which the Forest Spirit’s head is returned. San is the title character, and the film was Japan’s highest-grossing film before Titanic.
      • Ashitaka — Ashitaka is the young warrior protagonist of Princess Mononoke. He rides the red elk Yakul while seeking a cure for the curse placed on him by the Boar God Nago.
    • Spirited Away — Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli animated film about Chihiro, a girl who enters the spirit world after her parents are transformed into pigs and ends up working in a bathhouse for gods and witches such as Yubaba. It features characters including No-Face, Haku, and Boh, and was the first anime feature to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
      • No-Face — No-Face is the masked spirit from Spirited Away who follows Chihiro and consumes whatever is offered to it. In the bathhouse it becomes associated with gold and greed before leaving with Chihiro on her journey.
• Satoshi Kon

  • Paprika — Paprika is Satoshi Kon’s dream-heavy animated film about psychotherapist Atsuko Chiba and her alter ego. Its famous imagery includes parade scenes, falling businessmen, and the DC Mini device.

  • Tokyo Godfathers — Tokyo Godfathers is Satoshi Kon’s holiday-set animated film about three homeless people who find an abandoned baby in Tokyo. As they try to return the child, the story mixes comic chaos with a warm, unlikely family rescue plot.

• Ryusuke Hamaguchi
  • Drive My Car — Drive My Car is a 2021 film by Ryusuke Hamaguchi built around a multilingual production of Uncle Vanya. It became the first Japanese film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and is named after a Haruki Murakami story. The film follows a stage director coping with grief, infidelity, and trauma while working with an actor and a mute actress who performs in sign language. Its title comes from the Beatles song of the same name.

• Takeshi Kitano — Takeshi Kitano is a Japanese actor-director who performs as Beat Takeshi and directs under his real name. He is known for films such as Sonatine, Kids Return, Hana-Bi, and appearances in Zatoichi, Battle Royale, and Johnny Mnemonic.

• Zangiku monogatari; or The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum — Zangiku monogatari, or The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum, is a 1939 Kenji Mizoguchi film about actor Kikunosuke and the devoted servant girl Toku. The story centers on sacrifice, failed artistic ambition, and the tragic cost of Kikunosuke’s rise as a stage actor.

• Hiroshi Teshigahara — Hiroshi Teshigahara was the Japanese director who collaborated with Kōbō Abe and Tōru Takemitsu on films such as Woman in the Dunes and The Face of Another. He also made the documentary Antonio Gaudí and is linked to avant-garde visual art and bamboo sculpture.

• Mamoru Oshii
  • Ghost in the Shell — Ghost in the Shell is the 1995 cyberpunk anime film by Mamoru Oshii about Major Kusanagi and Public Security Section 9 investigating the Puppet Master and Project 2501. Its title refers to the idea of a human consciousness remaining inside an artificial body, and the franchise later inspired sequels and a Hollywood adaptation.

Italy

• Federico Fellini — began as a screenwriter for Rossellini on Rome, Open City; Neorealist roots visible in I Vitelloni (1953) and La Strada (1954); later moved to surrealism: Nights of Cabiria (1957), La Dolce Vita (1960, Palme d’Or), 8½ (1963, widely considered his masterpiece); coined “Felliniesque” for surreal, autobiographical imagery. He was an Italian film director whose later films include Juliet of the Spirits, Roma, and Satyricon. He is regarded as one of the major figures of postwar European cinema, and his work is closely associated with lush, dreamlike imagery that blends fantasy, memory, and the grotesque.

  • 8½ — Federico Fellini’s 1963 self-reflexive film follows Guido Anselmi, a director blocked while trying to make another movie, as he moves through memory, fantasy, and reality. It is known for dreamlike sequences such as the opening traffic-jam image of Guido floating above the cars, the harem fantasy, childhood flashbacks, and the “Asa Nisi Masa” scene, ending in a circus-like finale at a rocket launch site.

  • Amarcord — Amarcord is Federico Fellini’s nostalgic, comic film about adolescence in his hometown of Rimini. The movie mixes sexual farce, fascist-era satire, and vivid seasonal imagery, including the arrival of the giant ship and the town’s spring festival.

  • Juliet of the Spirits — Juliet of the Spirits is a Federico Fellini film about a woman plagued by doubts and fantasies about her marriage. Its psychoanalytic tone centers on the title character’s neuroses and perceived betrayal.

  • La Dolce Vita — Federico Fellini’s 1960 film about Marcello, a Roman gossip columnist and journalist drifting through Rome’s high society, celebrity, scandal, and spiritual emptiness. It features the paparazzo character, the helicopter carrying a giant Christ statue, the Trevi Fountain scene with Anita Ekberg, and a series of episodes that culminate in the famous beach ending.

  • La Strada — Federico Fellini’s neorealist film about Gelsomina, who is sold into the traveling troupe of the strongman Zampanò. The story follows their bleak journey, includes the murder of Il Matto, and ends with Gelsomina’s collapse/breakdown.

  • Nights of Cabiria — Federico Fellini’s film about Cabiria, a resilient Roman prostitute repeatedly betrayed by men. Giulietta Masina starred in the title role. The story follows Cabiria through humiliation, near-drowning, and a final mixture of despair and fragile hope after repeated betrayals, and the film won an Academy Award for foreign-language film.

• Michelangelo Antonioni — modernist alienation and the “incommunicability” trilogy; L’Avventura (1960), La Notte (1961), L’Eclisse (1962); Blow-Up (1966) was his English-language breakthrough. He also directed Zabriskie Point and The Passenger, and his films often end with famously ambiguous or detached final scenes.

  • Blowup — Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blowup follows a fashion photographer in Swinging London who thinks he has photographed a murder in a park. It is adapted from a Julio Cortázar story and ends with the famous imaginary tennis match.

  • La notte — La notte is Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1960 film about a disintegrating marriage in Milan. It stars Jeanne Moreau, Marcello Mastroianni, and Monica Vitti.

  • L’Avventura — Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1960 film about a yachting/sailing trip on which Anna disappears, shifting attention to the uneasy relationship between Claudia and Sandro. It stars Monica Vitti and Gabriele Ferzetti and ends with one of Antonioni’s signature scenes of emotional alienation. It is the first film in Antonioni’s informal trilogy of alienation, followed by La Notte and L’Eclisse.

  • Trilogy of alienation
    • L’eclisse — L’eclisse is Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1962 film, the last part of his trilogy of alienation after L’avventura and La notte. It follows Vittoria and the stockbroker Piero, and ends with the now-famous shot of a night lamp going out.
  • Zabriskie Point — Zabriskie Point is an Antonioni film about Daria and Mark, set amid the American desert and countercultural unrest. It is often noted as Antonioni’s first film about America and includes a brief appearance by a young Harrison Ford.
• Sergio Leone — Spaghetti Western pioneer; A Fistful of Dollars (1964), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Once Upon a Time in America (1984); long collaboration with composer Ennio Morricone. He was the Italian director who helped define the spaghetti western with A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and Once Upon a Time in the West. He later made Once Upon a Time in America and is closely associated with Clint Eastwood and Ennio Morricone.

  • A Fistful of Dollars — A 1964 Sergio Leone Western starring Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name, set around San Miguel and the feuding Rojos and Baxters. It adapts the basic story of Yojimbo, launched the Man with No Name style of spaghetti Westerns, was the first film in the Man with No Name trilogy, and is followed by For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

  • Dollars Trilogy
    • For a Few Dollars More — For a Few Dollars More is the 1965 spaghetti western sequel in Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy. It stars Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef as bounty hunters pursuing El Indio.

  • Once Upon a Time in the West — Once Upon a Time in the West is Sergio Leone’s 1968 spaghetti western about a struggle over land around Sweetwater. Henry Fonda plays the villain Frank, Charles Bronson plays Harmonica, and Ennio Morricone wrote its score.

  • Once Upon a Time in America — Once Upon a Time in America is Sergio Leone’s 1984 gangster epic about Jewish gangsters rising and falling over decades. It is especially associated with Ennio Morricone’s score, Jennifer Connelly’s film debut as young Deborah, and the ambiguous ending with Robert De Niro’s character Noodles.

  • The Good, the Bad and the Ugly — Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the final film in the Dollars trilogy, starring Clint Eastwood as Blondie alongside Tuco and Angel Eyes. Its climax is the graveyard standoff at Sad Hill Cemetery, and Ennio Morricone’s score includes “The Ecstasy of Gold.” Other famous clues include the search for Confederate gold tied to Arch Stanton’s grave and the “When you have to shoot, shoot; don’t talk” line.
    • Angel Eyes — Angel Eyes is the mercenary villain in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, played by Lee Van Cleef. He is the character who pursues Confederate gold and dies in the final cemetery standoff with Blondie.
  • Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy
    • The Man with No Name — Clint Eastwood’s recurring laconic gunslinger in Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, a wandering cowboy remembered for duels, bounty-hunting, and the quest for hidden gold. He appears under names such as Blondie, Joe, or Manco in different films, though he is commonly identified as the Man with No Name.

• Pier Paolo Pasolini — Marxist poet-filmmaker; Accattone (1961), The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964), The Decameron (1971), Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975); murdered in 1975. (1922–1975) — also a poet, novelist, and film director; his Roman slum novels Ragazzi di vita (1955) and Una vita violenta (1959) preceded his films, and his unorthodox Marxism kept him in conflict with almost every establishment. He also directed Mamma Roma.

• Bernardo Bertolucci — The Conformist (1970), Last Tango in Paris (1972), The Last Emperor (1987, swept 9 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director).

  • Stealing Beauty — Bernardo Bertolucci’s Stealing Beauty stars Liv Tyler as Lucy Harmon, a nineteen-year-old who travels to Tuscany to learn about her family and her own sexuality. The film follows her search for her father and her coming-of-age amid an artistic Tuscan setting.

  • The Conformist — The Conformist is Bernardo Bertolucci’s film adaptation of Alberto Moravia’s novel about Marcello Clerici, a man drawn to Fascism and normalcy. Its plot centers on betrayal, political assassination, and memories of childhood trauma.

  • The Dreamers — The Dreamers is a 2003 Bertolucci film about an American student who becomes close with Theo and Isabelle during the 1968 Paris riots. The title also belongs to an Isak Dinesen short story from Seven Gothic Tales about a singer who reinvents herself after losing her voice.

• Michaelangelo Antonioni — Michelangelo Antonioni was the Italian director of films such as Blow-Up, L’Avventura, The Red Desert, and Zabriskie Point. His work often starred Monica Vitti, and he died in the same summer as Ingmar Bergman.

• Spaghetti Western — Spaghetti Westerns are Italian-produced Western films, often set in the American frontier and associated with Ennio Morricone’s music. Their classic period included films like A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, many of them starring Clint Eastwood.

• Dario Argento — Dario Argento is an Italian horror director closely associated with the giallo genre and films such as The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The Cat O’ Nine Tails, and Suspiria. He also made the Three Mothers films inspired by Thomas De Quincey, and his daughter Asia Argento has acted in several of his later films. Argento also worked in genre cinema beyond his most famous horrors, and Inferno and Mother of Tears complete his Three Mothers trilogy.
  • Suspiria — Suspiria is Dario Argento’s horror film about a dance academy run by witches, later remade by Luca Guadagnino in 2018. It is the first film in Argento’s Three Mothers trilogy and follows Suzy Bannion as she uncovers Helena Markos at the academy.
• Giuseppe Tornatore — Giuseppe Tornatore is the Italian film director and screenwriter behind Cinema Paradiso and Malèna. He also directed The Best Offer and The Correspondence, and several of his films were scored by Ennio Morricone.

  • Nuovo Cinema Paradiso — Nuovo Cinema Paradiso is Giuseppe Tornatore’s film about Salvatore “Toto” Di Vita and his bond with the projectionist Alfredo in the village of Giancaldo. The story revolves around the title cinema, where Alfredo works, censorship by the local priest matters, and nitrate-film danger helps shape Salvatore’s memories of cinema.

  • Malèna — Malèna is a 2000 Italian film by Giuseppe Tornatore starring Monica Bellucci in the title role. It follows a woman who moves to Sicily and is separated from her husband Nino during World War II.

• Italian film directors

  • Franco Zeffirelli — Franco Zeffirelli was an Italian director and stage producer known for lavish theatrical and film adaptations. His best-known films include Romeo and Juliet, and he also directed Jesus of Nazareth, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and The Taming of the Shrew.

  • Gillo Pontecorvo — Gillo Pontecorvo was an Italian film director best known for The Battle of Algiers. He also directed Burn! and Kapo, and his work is strongly associated with political cinema.
    • The Battle of Algiers — The Battle of Algiers is Gillo Pontecorvo’s film about the FLN uprising against French colonial rule in Algiers. It is famous for its urban warfare scenes, torture, and the women who disguise themselves to plant bombs in the Casbah.
  • Lina Wertmuller — Lina Wertmüller was an Italian film director known for Seven Beauties, The Seduction of Mimi, and Swept Away. She was the first woman nominated for the Best Director Oscar and received multiple nominations for Seven Beauties.
    • Seven Beauties — Seven Beauties is an Italian black comedy by Lina Wertmüller starring Giancarlo Giannini as Pasqualino Frafusco. The film follows his descent from petty crime and military service into a Nazi concentration camp, where it mixes Holocaust material with dark satire.

• Last Tango in Paris — Bernardo Bertolucci’s controversial 1972 film starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider. It centers on the intense sexual relationship between Jeanne and Paul, an expatriate American widower grieving his wife’s suicide. It is the film for which Brando won the Academy Award that Sacheen Littlefeather declined on his behalf.

• Paolo Sorrentino — Paolo Sorrentino is the Italian film director of The Great Beauty and The Hand of God. His films often blend opulent imagery, melancholy, and surreal or comic set pieces, and The Great Beauty won the 2014 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

• The Last Emperor — The Last Emperor is Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 Best Picture winner about the life of Puyi, the final Qing emperor. Its music includes a score by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who later reworked material from the film for a piano trio album.

• Italian cinema
  • Italy — Italy is the European country associated with Italian neorealism and directors such as Fellini, De Sica, and Antonioni. Its films include La Dolce Vita, 8½, and The Bicycle Thief.

Sweden

• Ingmar Bergman — existential themes, death, faith; Through a Glass Darkly (1961, Best Foreign Film), The Silence (1963), The Seventh Seal (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957), Persona (1966), Cries and Whispers (1972), Scenes from a Marriage (1973), Fanny and Alexander (1982); long-time collaborator with cinematographer Sven Nykvist. His films also explore artistic identity and are marked by stark imagery; he frequently worked with Bibi Andersson.

  • Cries and Whispers — Cries and Whispers is Ingmar Bergman’s intensely red, chamber-like drama about three sisters gathered around the death of Agnes. It is famous for Sven Nykvist’s cinematography, the Pietà-like image of Anna holding Agnes, and its emphasis on pain, memory, and intimacy.

  • Faith Trilogy
    • Through a Glass Darkly — Ingmar Bergman’s film from the trilogy of faith. It follows Karin, Minus, Martin, and David on an island, depicts Karin’s collapse into madness, and ends with the line about God as love. Its title comes from 1 Corinthians 13, and it was followed by Winter Light and The Silence.

  • Fanny and Alexander — Fanny and Alexander is Ingmar Bergman’s autobiographical 1983 film about the Ekdahl family. It follows the children’s life after their mother remarries the harsh Bishop Vergérus, and it ends with their escape through the aid of Isak Jacobi and a touch of magic.

  • The Virgin Spring — The Virgin Spring is an Ingmar Bergman film about a father’s revenge after the rape and murder of his daughter Karin. The film is known for its bleak medieval setting, pagan-Christian tension, and the infamous scene of brutal violence against the killers.

  • Vargtimmen — Hour of the Wolf is an Ingmar Bergman horror film centered on Johan, a painter who disappears on the island of Baltrum. Its surreal imagery includes a private performance of The Magic Flute and a morgue scene in which Johan encounters a woman he believes is dead.

  • Wild Strawberries — Ingmar Bergman’s film about the elderly physician Isak Borg, who travels to Lund to receive an honorary doctorate while revisiting his past in dreams and memories. Its road-trip structure features surreal encounters, family tensions, a famous dream sequence with a coffin and a carriage, and it closes on Borg reflecting on his parents by a lake. The title refers to a Swedish idiom for a sentimental place.

  • Winter Light — Winter Light is an Ingmar Bergman film in which pastor Tomas Ericsson struggles with faith and isolation. The film also involves Marta, the fisherman Jonas, and Bergman’s recurring spiritual concerns about doubt and despair.

  • The Seventh Seal — Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 film follows the knight Antonius Block, played by Max von Sydow, as he returns from the Crusades and plays chess with Death during the Black Death. It is famous for its plague-stricken medieval Sweden, a traveling troupe, the survivors Jof and Mia, Albertus Pictor, and its final danse macabre on the hill, and is often noted for its bleak meditation on the silence of God and the biblical apocalyptic imagery of its title.

  • Smiles of a Summer Night — Smiles of a Summer Night is a 1955 Swedish comedy by Ingmar Bergman about several couples at a country house. Its success helped finance The Seventh Seal, and its plot later inspired Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music.

• Ernst Ingmar Bergman — Ingmar Bergman was the Swedish film director behind The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Persona, and Through a Glass Darkly. His films often feature intense psychological conflict and existential themes, including the knight who plays chess with Death and the troubled figures in his chamber dramas.

• Lasse Hallström — Lasse Hallström is the Swedish film director known for My Life as a Dog, Once Around, Chocolat, and The Cider House Rules. He is also married to actress Lena Olin.
  • What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? — What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? is a 1993 film starring Johnny Depp as Gilbert Grape and Leonardo DiCaprio as his younger brother Arnie. The story centers on Gilbert’s family life in a small town, including his housebound mother and the responsibilities placed on him at home and work.

Spain

• Luis Buñuel — Surrealist; Un Chien Andalou (1929, with Salvador Dalí); later Mexican and French work includes The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972, Best Foreign Film Oscar). He was a Spanish film director whose career ran from the silent era into the 1970s. Other major films include L’Age d’Or, The Exterminating Angel, Belle de Jour, and That Obscure Object of Desire.

  • The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie — The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is Luis Buñuel’s 1972 film about affluent friends who repeatedly fail to sit down to dinner. Its surreal interruptions and dreamlike structure turn an ordinary dinner party into a comic study of bourgeois manners and frustration.

  • An Andalusian Dog or Un Chien Andalou — An Andalusian Dog is the 1928 Surrealist short film by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí, famous for its razor-to-the-eye opening and its disconnected dreamlike scenes. Its shocking imagery and title cards made it a landmark of avant-garde cinema.

  • L’Age d’Or — L’Age d’or is an early surrealist film by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí that satirizes social conventions, repression, and bourgeois life. It became notorious for scandal and anti-bourgeois provocation, with episodes of thwarted erotic desire, grotesque disruptions of domestic life, and blasphemous imagery such as a woman sucking the toes of a religious statue. Its ending extends the attack on convention by linking Jesus with the Duke of Blangis.

  • The Exterminating Angel (El Angel Exterminador) — The Exterminating Angel is Luis Buñuel’s film about elite dinner guests who mysteriously cannot leave the room after supper. Its surreal repetitions and circular ending make it one of his best-known examinations of class and confinement.

• Pedro Almodóvar — Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), All About My Mother (1999, Best Foreign Film Oscar), Talk to Her (2002, Best Original Screenplay Oscar). He is a Spanish film director known for a brightly colored, kitschy visual style. Other major works include Volver, The Skin I Live In, and Pain and Glory.

  • All About My Mother — A 1999 Pedro Almodóvar Spanish-language drama starring Cecilia Roth as Manuela, a grieving mother who loses her son Esteban and travels in search of the boy’s father. The film also features the transgender woman Lola and a pregnant nun played by Penélope Cruz; it won an Oscar and received major critical acclaim.

  • Hable con ella — Pedro Almodóvar film centered on Benigno and Marco, whose lives become entangled while they care for comatose women in a hospital. Released in English as Talk to Her, it won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and is noted for its quiet, intimate treatment of love and communication.

  • Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown — Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is Pedro Almodóvar’s 1988 comedy about Pepa, Ivan, Candela, and a series of escalating absurdities tied together by spiked gazpacho and frantic apartment chaos. The film helped make Almodóvar internationally famous and is one of his best-known early successes.

• Alejandro Amenábar
  • The Others — The Others is the 2001 gothic horror film in which Grace and her sunlight-sensitive children live in a darkened mansion and come to suspect their house is haunted. Nicole Kidman stars as Grace, and the film’s twist reveals that she and her children are themselves the ghosts.

• Little Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown — Little Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is Pedro Almodóvar’s film that braids together nervous women, domestic crisis, and comic melodrama. Its references point to The Human Voice, the March sisters, and the later work Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

• Victor Erice
  • The Spirit of the Beehive — The Spirit of the Beehive is Victor Erice’s 1973 Spanish film about a young girl named Ana whose imagination becomes a refuge under Francoist Spain. The film is remembered for its haunting atmosphere, references to Frankenstein, and its quiet political symbolism.

Other Europe

• Jean Renoir — French; La Grande Illusion (1937), The Rules of the Game (1939); son of painter Auguste Renoir. He also directed The River and A Day in the Country.

  • The Rules of the Game — The Rules of the Game is Jean Renoir’s 1939 satire of French upper-class society, set largely at the estate of the de la Chesnaye family. Its hunt, masquerade, and mistaken-identity plot make it one of Renoir’s best-known films.

  • La Grande Illusion — Jean Renoir’s World War I prison-camp film about French prisoners of war and their aristocratic German captors, with a focus on the fading aristocratic world they inhabit and the collapse of old class codes. It stars Jean Gabin as Maréchal and Erich von Stroheim as Captain von Rauffenstein, with de Boeldieu helping engineer an escape toward Switzerland. It is noted for its shifting languages, escape attempts, the “La Marseillaise” scene in drag, and its status as one of the first foreign-language films nominated for Best Picture.

  • Rules of the Game — Rules of the Game is a 2001 film featuring Claudia Schiffer as a detective and Daniel Baldwin as an escaped prisoner. It should not be confused with Jean Renoir’s 1939 classic The Rules of the Game.

• Carl Theodor Dreyer — Danish; The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Ordet (1955). He also directed Vampyr and Day of Wrath, and is known for an austere style with long takes, minimalist sets, and intense close-ups. His best-known silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc, was rediscovered in a psychiatric hospital in 1981.
  • The Passion of Joan of Arc — Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc dramatizes Joan’s trial and execution, with Renée Falconetti in the title role. It is famous for its intense close-ups, stark low-angle shots, and the rediscovery of its lost version in an Oslo mental institution.
• Andrei Tarkovsky — Soviet/Russian; slow, meditative style; Andrei Rublev (1966), Solaris (1972), Stalker (1979), The Sacrifice (1986). His cinema is often marked by spiritual imagery, long takes, and dreamlike pacing, and his other notable films include The Mirror and Ivan’s Childhood.

  • Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky — Andrei Tarkovsky was a Soviet director known for Solaris, Stalker, and Andrei Rublev. His films are marked by long takes, spiritual imagery, and scenes such as the levitation shot in Mirror and the dreamlike opening of The Sacrifice.

  • The Mirror — The Mirror is Andrei Tarkovsky’s semiautobiographical film that moves between childhood memories, dreams, and wartime recollections. It is known for the burning barn long take, black-and-white dream imagery, narration by the director’s father, and scenes centered on Alexei and Maria.

• Krzysztof Kieślowski — Polish; The Double Life of Véronique (1991), Three Colors trilogy (Blue, White, Red, 1993–94); also directed the ten-part Dekalog (1988) for Polish television.
  • Decalogue
    • Decalogue or Dekalog — Decalogue, or Dekalog, is Krzysztof Kieślowski’s ten-part cycle of hour-long films inspired by the Ten Commandments. It is set around a housing estate and is often singled out for its varied, morally charged stories.
  • Three Colors: White
    • white — White is the title of the second film in Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors trilogy. It also names Michael Haneke’s Caché in its apartment decor and symbolizes surrender in historical and military contexts.

• Roman Polanski (European work) — Polish-French director; Knife in the Water (1962, Poland’s first Oscar-nominated film), Repulsion (1965), The Tenant (1976); later The Pianist (2002, Best Director Oscar).

• Andrzej Wajda — major Polish director; “War trilogy” (A Generation, 1955; Canal, 1957; Ashes and Diamonds, 1958); Man of Iron (1981, Palme d’Or); Honorary Oscar (2000).

• Miloš Forman — Czech New Wave director who emigrated after 1968; The Firemen’s Ball (1967); in Hollywood directed One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975, swept the Big Five) and Amadeus (1984, Best Picture and Best Director). Miloš Forman was a Czech New Wave director who moved to the United States after The Firemen’s Ball. He directed Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Loves of a Blonde, and The People vs. Larry Flynt. His films are associated with location shooting and naturalistic performances, and one scene in Loves of a Blonde used actual on-screen caning.

  • Goya’s Ghosts — Goya’s Ghosts is a 2006 film directed and co-written by Milos Forman about Francisco Goya and the Spanish Inquisition. It stars Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman, and Stellan Skarsgård, with Goya himself portrayed on screen by Skarsgård.

  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
    • Jack Nicholson as Randle Patrick McMurphy — Jack Nicholson played Randle Patrick McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a role for which he won an Oscar. McMurphy is the rebellious patient whose treatment includes a procedure that reduces his intelligence.
  • The People Vs. Larry Flynt — The People vs. Larry Flynt is Milos Forman’s 1996 film about the Hustler publisher and his obscenity battles with Jerry Falwell. Woody Harrelson stars as Larry Flynt, with Edward Norton and Courtney Love in major supporting roles. The film is remembered for its Supreme Court setting, its courtroom satire, and its broad defense of free speech. Its title character is shown as a crude provocateur whose legal fight becomes the center of the story.

• Michael Haneke — Austrian; The Piano Teacher (2001), Caché (2005), The White Ribbon (2009, Palme d’Or), Amour (2012, Palme d’Or and Best Foreign Film Oscar).

• Claire Denis — French filmmaker; Beau Travail (1999), set among French Foreign Legion soldiers in Djibouti, reworks Herman Melville’s Billy Budd through fragments of memory, bodily movement, desire, and military discipline. It offers a strong connection between film form and choreography.⁶

• Chantal Akerman — Belgian avant-garde director; Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), a three-hour durational film; named the greatest film ever made in the 2022 Sight & Sound poll, displacing Vertigo.

• Ken Loach — British social-realist director; Kes (1969), Riff-Raff (1991), I, Daniel Blake (2016, Palme d’Or), Sorry We Missed You (2019); persistent focus on working-class British life. His work also includes contributions to anthology projects such as 11’09”01 September 11.
  • The Wind That Shakes the Barley — The Wind That Shakes the Barley is Ken Loach’s 2006 film about brothers on opposing sides of the Irish War of Independence and Civil War. It won the Palme d’Or and takes its title from an Irish ballad.
• Mike Leigh — British director known for improvisation-based development; Secrets & Lies (1996, Palme d’Or), Topsy-Turvy (1999), Vera Drake (2004, Venice Golden Lion), Happy-Go-Lucky (2008).
  • Happy-Go-Lucky — Happy-Go-Lucky is a 2008 Mike Leigh film about Poppy, an upbeat London teacher who learns to drive. Sally Hawkins stars in the title role, with Eddie Marsan as her abrasive driving instructor.

• Pedro Costa — Portuguese director of the “Fontainhas trilogy”; minimalist, long-take style; Colossal Youth (2006).

• Alice Guy-Blaché — Alice Guy-Blaché was a pioneering French filmmaker often credited as the first woman director and one of the earliest to make narrative fiction films. Her work includes Be Natural, The Consequences of Feminism, and several films featuring cabbage-patch babies and other playful visual motifs.

• G. W. Pabst — G. W. Pabst was a Bohemian film director known for The Joyless Street, The Love of Jeanne Ney, and a multilingual version of Don Quixote. After World War II he made The Last Act, a film about the final days of the Nazi regime.

• Henri-Georges Clouzot

  • Diabolique — Diabolique is the 1955 French thriller about a murdered headmaster whose body disappears after being hidden in a school swimming pool. It was a major influence on Psycho and was later remade with Sharon Stone.

  • The Wages of Fear — The Wages of Fear is a 1953 Henri-Georges Clouzot thriller about truck drivers hauling nitroglycerine through dangerous South American terrain. Its tense road-journey plot made it a major influence on later remakes and suspense films.

• Georges Franju
  • Eyes Without a Face — Eyes Without a Face is George Franju’s 1960 French horror film about a surgeon who kidnaps women to restore his daughter’s ruined face. The title later became the name of a Billy Idol song.

• The Passion of Joan of Arc or La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc — The Passion of Joan of Arc is Carl Dreyer’s silent film starring Maria Falconetti as the martyred saint. It is known for its intense close-ups, the Oslo Print, and its later association with Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light.

• Vampyr — Vampyr is Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1932 atmospheric horror film, loosely based on Sheridan Le Fanu’s vampire fiction. Its dreamlike visuals and washed-out cinematography make it one of the most distinctive early sound horror films.

• Three Colours: Red — Three Colours: Red is the final film in Krzysztof Kieślowski’s trilogy. It stars Irène Jacob as a model and centers on a judge who spies on his neighbors in Geneva.

• Berta Helene Amalie “Leni” Riefenstahl — German filmmaker and photographer best known for the Nazi propaganda films Triumph of the Will and Olympia. Her directorial career began with The Blue Light and was effectively ended after World War II by the political controversy surrounding her films; she later pursued photography, including The Last of the Nuba and underwater work published in Coral Gardens.

  • Tiefland — Tiefland is a film by Leni Riefenstahl based on Eugen d’Albert’s opera of the same name. She completed it during the war but did not release it until 1954.

  • Triumph of the Will — Leni Riefenstahl’s 1935 Nazi propaganda film about the 1934 Nuremberg Rally. It opens with Hitler’s arrival by airplane and is known for its massed pageantry, uniformed crowds, youth formations, and ceremonial staging; it also influenced later documentary and political filmmaking.

• Costa-Gavras — Costa-Gavras is the Greek political filmmaker behind Z, Missing, State of Siege, and The Confession. His films often adapt political scandals and repression, with Z dramatizing the cover-up of an assassination in Greece.

• Paul Verhoeven — Paul Verhoeven is a Dutch filmmaker associated with both provocative European hits and Hollywood blockbusters. He directed RoboCop, Starship Troopers, Total Recall, and Showgirls, and he became notorious for collecting Razzie awards in person.

  • Hollow Man — Hollow Man is Paul Verhoeven’s 2000 film starring Kevin Bacon and Elisabeth Shue. It centers on invisibility and also features Josh Brolin.

  • Showgirls — Showgirls is Paul Verhoeven’s notorious 1995 film about a stripper trying to become a title performer in Las Vegas. Its story follows Nomi, whose rise is complicated by blackmail, exploitation, and a grim backstory involving her family.

  • Total Recall — Total Recall is the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi film based on Philip K. Dick’s “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale.” Its plot follows a man whose Mars vacation or memory implant leads into a fight against a corrupt company and a future on Mars.

  • RoboCop — RoboCop is the cyborg police officer version of Alex Murphy from Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 film. The series is set in a corporate-dominated Detroit controlled by OCP, and the original film is remembered for lines like “I’d buy that for a dollar.”

    • RoboCop 3 — RoboCop 3 is the 1993 sequel in the cyborg police franchise, starring Robert John Burke as Alex Murphy. Its plot involves OCP, the planned Delta City project, and a Japanese corporate takeover backed by ninja cyborgs.
• Roman Polanski — Polish-French director of films including Repulsion, Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, The Pianist, and An Officer and a Spy. He was married to Sharon Tate, whose murder by the Manson family is a noted part of his biography, and his career was marked by his 1977 U.S. case involving sexual assault of a minor and his 1978 flight from the United States after statutory-rape charges.
  • Chinatown — Chinatown is Roman Polanski’s neo-noir film about detective Jake Gittes and the corruption behind Los Angeles water politics. Its ending is remembered for Evelyn Mulwray’s family revelation and the line “Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown.” The film also features Noah Cross, Hollis Mulwray, and the recurring motif of surveillance and private investigation.
    • Jake Gittes — Jake Gittes is the hard-boiled private detective at the center of Chinatown, Roman Polanski’s neo-noir about Los Angeles water corruption. His investigation of Hollis Mulwray’s death draws him into Noah Cross’s scheme, culminating in the film’s infamous Chinatown ending and the revelation of Evelyn Mulwray’s family secret.

  • Frantic — Frantic is a 1988 thriller directed by Roman Polanski and starring Harrison Ford as Dr. Richard Walker, whose wife disappears while they are in Paris. The story follows his search for a missing suitcase tied to a conspiracy, and it is often remembered for its Paris setting and foreign-language mix.

  • Knife in the Water — Knife in the Water is Roman Polanski’s 1962 feature debut, a Polish-language thriller about a couple whose sailing trip is disrupted by a hitchhiker. Its English title is often used as the clue to Polanski’s first film.

  • The Ninth Gate — The Ninth Gate is a Roman Polanski film about a book dealer, Dean Corso, searching for an occult text. It was adapted from Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s novel The Club Dumas and stars Johnny Depp.

  • The Pianist — The Pianist is Roman Polanski’s 2002 film about Władysław Szpilman, a Jewish pianist struggling to survive the Holocaust in Warsaw. Adrien Brody stars as Szpilman, and the film won major awards including the Palme d’Or. The film also features the German officer Wilm Hosenfeld helping Szpilman survive in the ruined city. Polanski’s own absence from the Oscars is often noted in connection with the film.

  • Rosemary’s Baby — Rosemary’s Baby is Roman Polanski’s 1968 horror film about a woman who learns her neighbors are part of a Satanic conspiracy and that she is carrying the Antichrist. Mia Farrow stars as Rosemary Woodhouse, whose pregnancy and nightmare visions drive the plot.
• Agnieszka Holland
  • Europa Europa — Europa Europa is Agnieszka Holland’s 1991 film based on the wartime survival story of Solomon Perel, a German Jew who hides his identity in Nazi Germany. The title alludes to the moon of Jupiter, and the film was also released under the title Hitlerjunge Salomon.
• Roland Joffé
  • The Mission — The Mission is Roland Joffé’s 1986 film about Jesuit activity in South America, starring Jeremy Irons as Father Gabriel and Robert De Niro as Rodrigo Mendoza. Its plot centers on a mission among Guaraní communities and won acclaim for its cinematography and moral drama.

• Stroszek — Stroszek is a Werner Herzog film about a Berlin vagabond who moves to Wisconsin. It stars Bruno S. and ends with the title character’s surreal cannon-firing breakdown.

• Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
  • The Lives of Others — The 2006 German film by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck about Stasi surveillance in East Berlin. It follows Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler as he is assigned to monitor playwright Georg Dreyman; as he listens in, he grows sympathetic to the dissidents and quietly begins to protect them. Christa-Maria Sieland and the hidden typewriter are central to the tragedy.

• John Boorman — John Boorman is a film director known for Deliverance, Hope and Glory, and Excalibur. His work also includes Point Blank, Beyond Rangoon, Zardoz, and the sequel The Exorcist II: The Heretic.

• John Schlesinger — John Schlesinger was a British film director best known for Midnight Cowboy. He won acclaim for late-1960s and later films, and questions about him often point to the 1969 film that made him famous.
  • Midnight Cowboy — Midnight Cowboy is the 1969 John Schlesinger film about Joe Buck, a naive Texan who comes to New York and falls in with the hustler Ratso Rizzo. It is famous for the shouted line “I’m walkin’ here!” and for being the only X-rated film to win Best Picture.
• Roger Vadim — Roger Vadim was a French film director known for directing And God Created Woman and for his marriages to Brigitte Bardot, Annette Stroyberg, and Jane Fonda. He is often remembered as a glamorous director whose career intertwined with celebrity relationships and fashionable European cinema.
  • Barbarella — 1968 science-fiction film starring Jane Fonda as a spacefaring heroine in a campy 41st-century future. It was written by Terry Southern and includes characters such as Pygar the blind angel and the revolutionary Dildano. It also gave its name to the band Duran Duran, whose title villain is often given as Durand-Durand.

• Robert Bresson — Robert Bresson was a French director known for austere, minimalist films such as A Man Escaped, Pickpocket, Diary of a Country Priest, and Au hasard Balthazar. His cinema emphasizes precision, nonprofessional performers, and a stripped-down style that influenced later filmmakers.

• Alexandre Aja — Alexandre Aja is a French film director known for horror films such as High Tension and the remake of The Hills Have Eyes. He is also associated with later genre work and with planned remakes such as Piranha.

• Dogville — Dogville is Lars von Trier’s minimalist film set in a chalk-outlined town. Nicole Kidman plays Grace Mulligan, who hides from her mobster father in the title town before the ending reveal involving a dog named Moses.

• Gaspar Noé — Gaspar Noé is an Argentine-French director known for provocative, highly stylized films such as Enter the Void, Irreversible, Love, and Climax. His work often uses extreme visual effects, long takes, and transgressive sexuality to push viewers into discomfort.

• Tom Tykwer — Tom Tykwer is a German director known for Run Lola Run, The International, and Cloud Atlas. His films often feature propulsive editing and, in the case of Cloud Atlas, a score associated with his group Pale 3.

  • The Princess and the Warrior — The Princess and the Warrior is a 2000 Tom Tykwer film starring Franka Potente as the nurse Sissi and Benno Fürmann as Bodo, a criminal who saves her life. The German title is Der Krieger und die Kaiserin.

  • Run Lola Run — Tom Tykwer’s 1998 German film about Lola racing to save Manni after he loses 100,000 marks in twenty minutes. The film restarts the same crisis in multiple versions, using rapid editing, branching timelines, rapid montage, animation, alternate outcomes, and Franka Potente’s title performance to show how tiny choices change events.

• Maren Ade — Maren Ade is a contemporary German film director known for Everyone Else and Toni Erdmann. Her work often explores strained relationships and offbeat family dynamics.
  • Toni Erdmann — Toni Erdmann is a 2016 German film directed by Maren Ade about a father who disguises himself as a prankster life coach to reconnect with his daughter. The film follows Ines Conradi, a business consultant in Romania, and centers on the father’s absurd interventions in her professional and private life.
• German filmmakers

  • Margarethe von Trotta — Margarethe von Trotta is a German filmmaker and former actress known for politically charged dramas and biopics. Her films include Marianne and Juliane, Hannah Arendt, Rosa Luxemburg, and a 1975 adaptation of The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum co-directed with Volker Schlöndorff.

  • Rainer Fassbinder — Rainer Fassbinder was a major German filmmaker associated with New German Cinema. He directed The Marriage of Maria Braun, Despair, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, Beware of the Holy Whore, Berlin Alexanderplatz, Veronika Voss, and Querelle.

• Peter Cattaneo
  • The Full Monty — The Full Monty is the British comedy about unemployed men who form a male strip act, with the title meaning full frontal nudity. It was later adapted into a stage musical, and the film’s working-class humor is often signaled by Gaz, Horse, Gerald, Dave, and Lomper.
• Peter Greenaway — Peter Greenaway is a British director known for stylized, highly visual films such as The Draughtsman’s Contract, Drowning by Numbers, and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover. His work often features nudity, elaborate structures, and recurring collaborations with Michael Nyman and other composers.

  • Drowning by Numbers — Drowning by Numbers is a Peter Greenaway film about three women who all share the same name and repeatedly drown the men around them. The film is famous for numerals from 1 to 99 appearing throughout the screen.

  • Prospero’s Books — Prospero’s Books is Peter Greenaway’s film version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, built around John Gielgud as Prospero. The movie is noted for its lavish visual style and extensive nudity.

• Terence Davies — Terence Davies was the Liverpool-born filmmaker known for lyrical, memory-driven dramas such as Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes. He also directed the literary biopics A Quiet Passion and Benediction, and his films often feature slow camera movement and music-hall songs.
  • Distant Voices, Still Lives — Distant Voices, Still Lives is Terence Davies’s 1988 film about a Catholic Liverpool family, structured in two episodes and marked by nostalgic singing.
• Armenian-Soviet filmmakers
  • Sergei Parajanov — Sergei Parajanov was an Armenian-Soviet filmmaker known for highly stylized tableaux and collage-like imagery. His best-known films include The Color of Pomegranates, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, and The Legend of Suram Fortress.
    • The Color of Pomegranates — Sergei Parajanov’s stylized 1969 film portrait of the Armenian poet Sayat-Nova. It is known for symbolic religious imagery, static tableaux, vivid red imagery resembling Persian miniatures, and poetic intertitles; it is considered one of the great works of Soviet-era cinema.
• Elem Klimov
  • Come and See — Come and See is Elem Klimov’s 1985 anti-war film about the Belarusian partisan Flyora during the Nazi occupation. Its nightmare imagery includes bombers, a burning barn, reversed footage, and a soundtrack that turns Mozart into a menacing presence. The film is notorious for its punishing sound design and for forcing the audience to watch atrocities against villagers.
• Max Ophüls — Max Ophüls was a German-born director known for elegant tracking shots and romantic melodrama. His films include Letter from an Unknown Woman, La Ronde, and The Earrings of Madame de… He also directed Lola Montès.
  • Lola Montes — Lola Montes is a 1955 Max Ophuls film about the famed courtesan and dancer linked to Franz Liszt and King Ludwig I of Bavaria. The film is structured around tableaux vivants recounting her scandalous life and celebrity.
• Ruben Östlund
  • The Square — The Square is a 2017 Ruben Östlund film set around a contemporary art museum and a public-art project. It won the Palme d’Or and includes scenes of social awkwardness, performance art, and provocation at a dinner party.

• Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov — Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov is a Russian film director and actor, known for Burnt by the Sun and other films such as The Barber of Siberia. He is the son of Sergei Mikhalkov, the writer of the Soviet national anthem lyrics.

• The Red Balloon
  • The Red Balloon or Le ballon rouge — Albert Lamorisse’s wordless short film follows a boy through Montmartre as he is pursued by a red balloon that acts like a loyal companion. The film won acclaim for its imagery and minimal dialogue.
• Yorgos Lanthimos — Yorgos Lanthimos is the Greek filmmaker behind The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Dogtooth, and The Favourite. His films often feature unsettling families, deadpan dystopias, and bizarre psychological violence.

  • Dogtooth — Dogtooth is a Yorgos Lanthimos film about three isolated siblings kept inside by their parents. Its disturbing title comes from the tooth that the eldest daughter removes with a dumbbell.

  • Poor Things — Poor Things is a 2023 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Emma Stone as Bella Baxter. Its plot follows the reanimated Bella through a surreal Victorian world built around Godwin Baxter’s experiments.

  • The Killing of a Sacred Deer — The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a 2017 Yorgos Lanthimos film about a surgeon whose family is cursed by a boy connected to his past negligence. Its plot is an unsettling modern retelling of Iphigenia at Aulis.

  • The Lobster — The Lobster is Yorgos Lanthimos’s dystopian film about single adults who have 45 days to find a partner or be transformed into animals. It stars Colin Farrell and is known for its bleak, deadpan humor and surreal violence.

  • The Favourite — The Favourite is Yorgos Lanthimos’s 2018 period film about Queen Anne, Sarah Churchill, and Abigail Masham. It ends with Abigail massaging Queen Anne’s feet after maneuvering herself into the queen’s favor.

• Luca Guadagnino
  • Call Me By Your Name — Call Me by Your Name is Luca Guadagnino’s 2017 coming-of-age romance set in northern Italy. It follows Elio and Oliver during a summer of desire, music, and emotional discovery. The film is adapted from André Aciman’s novel and stars Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer. Its most recognizable clues include the song “Visions of Gideon,” the bicycle rides, and the fireplace scene.
• Jean-Pierre Melville — Jean-Pierre Melville was a French film director, originally named Jean-Pierre Grumbach, known for Le Samouraï and Le Cercle Rouge. He adopted his surname in honor of the American writer Herman Melville.

  • Le Samourai — Le Samouraï is Jean-Pierre Melville’s film about the solitary hit man Jef Costello. It is famous for its stylized police surveillance, minimalist mood, and the false alibi that begins to unravel after a nightclub murder.

  • Melville — Melville is a surname shared by Herman Melville, the American author of Moby-Dick, and Jean-Pierre Melville, the French film director. The film clues point to Jean-Pierre Melville’s crime and war films, while the literary clues point to Herman Melville’s South Seas fiction and sea novels.

• Jean-Pierre Jeunet — Jean-Pierre Jeunet is the French director associated with Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children, Alien: Resurrection, and Amelie. He often collaborated with Marc Caro on his early films. Quiz clues may also mention his short film work and the controversy over French subsidies for A Very Long Engagement. He is a prominent contemporary French filmmaker.
  • Amélie — The 2001 French romantic comedy directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet stars Audrey Tautou as the title character, a shy Paris waitress who engineers elaborate acts of kindness, meddles in other people’s lives, falls for Nino Quincampoix, and is involved in the gnome voyage and the search for Bretodeau.
    • Amélie Poulain — Amélie Poulain is the title character of the 2001 French film Amélie, played by Audrey Tautou. She works at the Two Windmills café and becomes involved in helping others while falling in love with the owner of a photo album.
• Joachim Trier
  • The Worst Person in the World — The Worst Person in the World is Joachim Trier’s 2021 Norwegian film about Julie, a young woman in Oslo navigating relationships and work. It follows her involvement with comic-book artist Aksel and includes a breakup-centered meditation on self-image and adulthood.
• Marcel Carné — Marcel Carné was a French film director associated with poetic realism. He is best known for The Children of Paradise and Drôle de drame.
  • Les Enfants du Paradis — Marcel Carné’s 1945 French film, with a script by Jacques Prévert. Set around performers on the Boulevard du Crime in Paris, it follows Garance, a courtesan pursued by a mime, an actor, a thief, and an aristocrat. Made under wartime restrictions, it was split into two parts.
• Louis Malle — Louis Malle was a French director known for My Dinner with Andre, Au Revoir, Les Enfants, Vanya on 42nd Street, and earlier films such as Elevator to the Gallows. His work ranges from intimate dramas like Damage and Pretty Baby to collaborations with major international actors and musicians.

  • Au Revoir les Enfants — Au Revoir les Enfants is Louis Malle’s 1987 film about boys at a Catholic boarding school during the Nazi occupation of France. The closing “au revoir” at the courtyard and the friendship between Julien and the Jewish student Bonnet make it a classic wartime coming-of-age drama.

  • My Dinner with Andre — My Dinner with Andre is Louis Malle’s 1981 conversational film built around an extended restaurant dialogue between Wallace Shawn and André Gregory. Its clues emphasize Andre’s theatrical anecdotes, the film’s cult status, and its frequent references in other media.

  • Elevator to the Gallows — Elevator to the Gallows is Louis Malle’s 1958 French noir starring Jeanne Moreau and featuring Miles Davis’s improvised jazz score. Its plot centers on a failed murder getaway and a lover trapped in the title elevator.

• Miklós Jancsó — Miklós Jancsó was a Hungarian film director. He is especially associated with The Red and the White, a noted anti-war film.

• René Clair — René Clair was a French filmmaker associated with Cinema Pur and Surrealist-era experimentation. He directed Entr’acte, Le Million, and À Nous la Liberté.
  • entr’acte — Entr’acte is a title meaning “between the acts,” used for interludes or instrumental pieces. It also names René Clair’s surrealist film for the Ballets Suédois production of Relâche.
• Sergei Bondarchuk — Sergei Bondarchuk was a Soviet filmmaker best known for directing the epic film adaptation of War and Peace. He also acted in that adaptation and was associated with massive battlefield recreations that became part of the film’s legend.

Asia and Latin America

• Wong Kar-wai — Hong Kong; Chungking Express (1994), In the Mood for Love (2000); atmospheric, memory-suffused style. He is a Hong Kong director known for visually stylized, mood-driven films such as Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love. His work often returns to loneliness, memory, and romantic longing, with recurring collaborators including Christopher Doyle, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and Maggie Cheung.

• Park Chan-wook — South Korean; “Vengeance trilogy” (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, 2002; Oldboy, 2003, Cannes Grand Prix; Lady Vengeance, 2005); also The Handmaiden (2016) and Decision to Leave (2022). His films often pair stylized violence with elaborate visual set pieces, as in Stoker and the long hallway fight in Oldboy.

  • Oldboy — Park Chan-wook’s South Korean revenge thriller about Oh Dae-su, who is imprisoned for 15 years before confronting his captor and a shocking family secret. It is known for its brutal violence, the hallway hammer fight, the live octopus scene, the repeated image of a girl in a reservoir, the tongue-cutting scene, and its place in the Vengeance Trilogy.

  • The Handmaiden — The Handmaiden is a 2016 Park Chan-wook film set during the Japanese occupation of Korea, adapted from a story involving a conman, a pickpocket, and a wealthy Japanese household. It centers on Sook-hee and Hideko, whose relationship develops into a lesbian romance, and the title can also be given by its Korean name Agassi.

• Abbas Kiarostami — Iranian director; Where Is the Friend’s Home? (1987), Close-Up (1990), Taste of Cherry (1997, Palme d’Or); associated with the Iranian New Wave and reflexive, minimalist style. His work often blurs fiction and documentary, as in Close-Up’s re-creation of Hossein Sabzian’s impersonation of Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and includes The Wind Will Carry Us (1999).

• Hou Hsiao-hsien — Taiwanese New Cinema director; A City of Sadness (1989, Venice Golden Lion — first Taiwanese film to win), The Puppetmaster (1993), Flowers of Shanghai (1998). His films often engage the 228 Incident and the White Terror in Taiwan’s history.

• Edward Yang — Taiwanese New Cinema co-founder alongside Hou; A Brighter Summer Day (1991), Yi Yi (2000); died in 2007.
  • A Brighter Summer Day — A Brighter Summer Day is Edward Yang’s long 1991 film about teen gang life in Taiwan. Its title comes from a line in “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” and the film centers on Si’r, Cat, and rival gangs such as the 217s.

• Jia Zhangke — leading figure of the Sixth Generation of Chinese cinema; Platform (2000), Still Life (2006, Venice Golden Lion), A Touch of Sin (2013).

• Zhang Yimou — Chinese Fifth Generation director; Red Sorghum (1988), Raise the Red Lantern (1991), Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004); later directed 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. He is known for Red Sorghum and Ju Dou, and his films often feature stylized images of rural life, women under oppressive systems, and historical trauma.

  • Hero — Hero is Zhang Yimou’s stylized 2002 wuxia film in which a nameless swordsman recounts defeating three assassins before meeting the king of Qin. It was later paired in publicity with House of Flying Daggers, and its color-coded versions make the same story look like separate contradictory accounts.

  • Raise the Red Lantern — Raise the Red Lantern is a 1991 Zhang Yimou film starring Gong Li, adapted from Su Tong’s novel Wives and Concubines. Set in a wealthy household of concubines, it centers on a young fourth wife and the nightly ritual in which power and favor are shown by lighting, or raising, red lanterns.

  • The Road Home — Zhang Yimou’s film tells of Luo Yusheng returning home after his father’s death while his mother insists on traditional funeral rites. The story frames his parents’ love story through his memories and family arrangements.

• Chen Kaige — Fifth Generation Chinese director; Yellow Earth (1984), Farewell My Concubine (1993, Palme d’Or, co-winner).

• Lee Chang-dong — South Korean director; Poetry (2010, best screenplay Cannes), Burning (2018). His films also include Secret Sunshine and Oasis, and his work often centers on emotional trauma, social alienation, and fragile acts of forgiveness. Burning adapts Haruki Murakami’s “Barn Burning.”

• Im Kwon-taek — veteran South Korean director; Chunhyang (2000), Chihwaseon (2002, Best Director Cannes); won an honorary Palme d’Or in 2002.

• Bong Joon-ho — South Korean; The Host (2006), Memories of Murder (2003), Snowpiercer (2013), Parasite (2019, Palme d’Or and Best Picture Oscar, first non-English-language Best Picture winner).

  • Okja — Okja is Bong Joon-ho’s Netflix film about Mija and a genetically engineered super-pig. Tilda Swinton plays a Mirando executive, and the movie features the activist K, Johnny Wilcox, and a memorable subway sequence set to John Denver’s “Annie’s Song.”

  • Snowpiercer — Snowpiercer is Bong Joon-ho’s post-apocalyptic film set on a perpetually running train carrying the last humans after climate engineering freezes the Earth. The train’s class system and insect-based protein bars are among its signature dystopian details.

• Satyajit Ray — Indian (Bengali); Apu Trilogy (Pather Panchali, 1955; Aparajito, 1956; Apur Sansar, 1959); Honorary Oscar (1992). He was also a writer; his fictional detective Feluda appears in his literary and children’s work, alongside his films.

  • Apu Trilogy — Satyajit Ray’s three-film series about the life of Apu, beginning with Pather Panchali and continuing with Aparajito and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu). It follows Apu from childhood into adulthood in modern India, including marriage and loss.

  • Pather Panchali — Pather Panchali, also called The Song of the Little Road, is Satyajit Ray’s first film and the opening film of the Apu Trilogy. It follows Apu’s rural Bengali childhood, with memorable scenes involving the train, the sweet seller, and the family’s eventual departure from the village after Durga’s death.

• Alejandro González Iñárritu — Mexican; Amores Perros (2000), Birdman (2014, Best Picture, Best Director), The Revenant (2015, Best Director, consecutive wins — first director to do so since Joseph L. Mankiewicz in 1949–50). Also directed 21 Grams and Babel.
  • Amores Perros — Alejandro González Iñárritu’s debut feature is a 2000 Mexican anthology film whose interlocking stories are tied together by a car crash. Its title means “Love’s a Bitch,” and it follows figures such as the hitman El Chivo, the model Valeria, and Octavio’s dog Cofi.
• Alfonso Cuarón — Mexican; Y Tu Mamá También (2001), Children of Men (2006), Gravity (2013), Roma (2018, Best Director, Best Foreign Film Oscar). He also directed a segment of the anthology film Paris, je t’aime and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; his assignment to the Harry Potter film was seen as a surprise by many.

  • Y tu mama tambien — Y tu mama tambien is Alfonso Cuarón’s 2002 Mexican road film about Julio and Tenoch, whose beach trip with Luisa culminates in a tense coming-of-age story. It is set around the fictional Boca del Cielo and follows the friends as their relationship and sexual jealousy unravel.

  • Children of Men — Children of Men is Alfonso Cuarón’s dystopian film about a world of global infertility and the first pregnancy in nearly two decades. It stars Clive Owen as Theo Faron, features Kee as the pregnant refugee, and includes long tracking shots and the Human Project as key clues.

  • Y tu mamá también — Y tu mamá también is Alfonso Cuarón’s 2001 Mexican road film about teenagers Tenoch and Julio traveling with Luisa. It is known for its explicit coming-of-age tone, voiceover narration, and the beach destination of Boca del Cielo.

• Guillermo del Toro — Mexican; Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), The Shape of Water (2017, Best Picture). He is known for dark fantasy films such as The Devil’s Backbone, Hellboy, Pacific Rim, and Crimson Peak. His work often features monsters, fairy-tale imagery, and frequent collaborator Doug Jones; The Shape of Water also won the Golden Lion.

  • Pan’s Labyrinth — Guillermo del Toro’s dark fantasy film set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and post-Civil War Spain, centered on Ofelia, a girl who meets a faun and is told she is Princess Moanna of the Underground. It features the Pale Man, a mandrake root, Captain Vidal, and Ofelia’s final return after tragedy.

  • Pacific Rim — Pacific Rim is Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 film about giant Jaegers built to fight the Kaiju emerging from the Breach. It is also associated with the Mako Mori Test and stars Charlie Hunnam as Raleigh Becket.

• Iranian New Wave — movement emerging in the 1960s–70s and reviving after the 1979 revolution; directors include Kiarostami, Makhmalbaf, and Panahi; known for minimalism, child protagonists, and reflexive documentary-fiction blurring.

• Jafar Panahi — Iranian director repeatedly imprisoned by the Iranian government; The White Balloon (1995), Offside (2006), This Is Not a Film (2011, made while under house arrest), No Bears (2022).

• Ang Lee — Ang Lee is a Taiwanese director known for films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, The Ice Storm, and Life of Pi. His work often explores repression and family conflict, and he is also associated with the Father Knows Best trilogy and with reviving the wuxia genre.

  • Eat Drink Man Woman — Eat Drink Man Woman is an Ang Lee film about a widowed master chef in Taipei and his three daughters. The film links food, family, and romance, especially the daughters’ desire to leave home.

  • Ride with the Devil — Ride with the Devil is a 1999 Ang Lee film set during the Civil War, adapted from Daniel Woodrell’s Woe to Live On. It follows Missouri bushwhackers including Jake Roedel and Jack Bull Chiles, and it marked Jewel’s film debut.

• Audition — Audition is a psychological thriller film by Takashi Miike adapted from a Ryu Murakami novel. It is remembered for its grotesque courtship plot, in which a widower interviews women as potential wives and chooses one with violent intentions.

• Tsui Hark — Tsui Hark is a Hong Kong filmmaker known for producing John Woo films and directing works such as Peking Opera Blues and the Once Upon a Time in China series. He was born in Vietnam and later worked in action cinema, including collaborations with Jean-Claude Van Damme.

• Asghar Farhadi — Asghar Farhadi is an Iranian film director and screenwriter known for morally tangled dramas about family conflict, class, and gender. He won Academy Awards for A Separation and The Salesman, and also wrote and directed the Spanish-language film Everybody Knows.

• Mohsen Makhmalbaf
  • A Moment of Innocence — Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s semi-autobiographical film stages a reconstruction of the incident that sent him to prison under the Shah. In the film, he and the policeman he once stabbed direct younger stand-ins as they reenact the protest-rally encounter.

• House of Flying Daggers — House of Flying Daggers is Zhang Yimou’s 2004 wuxia film about a Tang-dynasty undercover mission and a blind dancer tied to a rebel group. Its set pieces include the Peony Palace, an echo game, and a romance involving deception and pursuit.

• Farewell My Concubine — Farewell My Concubine is Chen Kaige’s historical drama about Peking opera performers Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou across the Cultural Revolution. Its title comes from the Xiang Yu opera, and the film is remembered for its tragic final sword scene and performance-centered identity crisis.

• The Host — The Host is a Bong Joon-ho film about a mutated river monster that abducts a girl from her family. Its plot mixes monster movie spectacle with satire of government mishandling and foreign intervention.

• Ghajini — Ghajini is a 2008 Bollywood remake starring Aamir Khan about a man with severe short-term memory loss. The protagonist uses tattoos to remember his girlfriend Kalpana, and the film adapts an earlier Tamil version of the same story.

• Alejandro G. Iñárritu
  • Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance — Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s 2014 Best Picture winner about a washed-up former superhero actor staging a Raymond Carver adaptation on Broadway. It stars Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, and Emma Stone, and its single-take style is one of its signature features.

• The Revenant — The Revenant is Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2015 frontier survival film about Hugh Glass, who is mauled by a bear and then seeks revenge. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Glass, who hunts down John Fitzgerald after the death of his son.

• Mira Nair — Mira Nair is an Indian-born filmmaker known for Mississippi Masala, which explores racial tensions between Black and Indian communities in Mississippi after an Indian family is expelled from Uganda. She also directed Monsoon Wedding, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and Queen of Katwe.

• Alfonso Cuarón Orozco — Alfonso Cuarón Orozco is a Mexican director associated with Y tu mamá también, Children of Men, Gravity, and Roma. His films are known for long tracking shots and for the black-and-white drama Roma, which centers on a domestic worker in Mexico City.

• Apichatpong Weerasethakul
  • Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
    • Uncle Boonmee — Uncle Boonmee is the title character of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s 2010 film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. He is a sick man visited by the ghost of his wife and his son in supernatural forms, and the film is famous for its dreamlike return to past lives and Thai folklore.
• Indian cinema

  • Bollywood — Bollywood is the Hindi-language film industry centered in Mumbai, known for lavish musical numbers and melodramatic spectacle. Quizbowl clues often connect it to films like Lagaan and to the broader Indian cinema landscape. The industry is also associated with playback singers such as Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar, who perform for the films’ dance sequences. Filmfare Awards are among the prizes given to its movies.

  • playback singers — Playback singers are the off-screen vocalists in Indian cinema who record songs that actors lip-sync. Performers such as Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle became famous in this role, especially in Hindi film music.

• Hong Kong action cinema
  • performers
    • Sammo Hung Kam-Bo — Sammo Hung Kam-Bo is a Hong Kong action star, director, and stunt choreographer known for films like Enter the Fat Dragon, Game of Death, and Mr. Nice Guy. He also starred with Arsenio Hall in Martial Law and appeared in many martial-arts productions while helping shape Hong Kong action cinema.
• John Woo — John Woo is a Hong Kong action director famous for balletic gunfights, doves, and heroic-bloodshed stylization. His major films include The Killer, Hard Boiled, Face/Off, and Mission: Impossible 2, and he also briefly worked in American television.

  • A Better Tomorrow — A Better Tomorrow is a 1986 Hong Kong action film directed by John Woo and starring Chow Yun-fat, widely treated as a breakthrough of heroic bloodshed cinema. Its clues include the counterfeit-money cigarette-lighting shot, the restaurant gunfight with pistols hidden in potted plants, and the fashion craze for the protagonist’s coat.

  • Hard Target — Hard Target is a 1993 John Woo action film and Woo’s first Hollywood or North American directing effort. Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as a drifter and merchant seaman who helps Yancy Butler while hunting a rich man who targets homeless people for sport. It is also remembered as the film where Van Damme’s character, Chance Boudreaux, gets drawn into a deadly game of being hunted in New Orleans. The movie was a box-office flop despite Woo’s later success in the United States.

• Lucrecia Martel — Lucrecia Martel is an Argentine filmmaker known for La Ciénaga, The Headless Woman, and Zama. Her films often emphasize sound, immersion, and decaying bourgeois spaces, and she adapted Antonio di Benedetto’s Zama.

Africa

• Ousmane Sembène — Senegalese novelist and filmmaker. Black Girl / La Noire de… (1966) follows a Senegalese woman working for a French family and examines the continuing inequalities of the colonial relationship. Xala (1975) turns to the failures of a postcolonial elite; Moolaadé (2004) confronts female genital cutting. His work makes African political and social experience central to film history. He was also the author of Les Bouts de bois de Dieu (1960, God’s Bits of Wood), which follows the 1947–48 railway strike along the Dakar–Niger line through the workers, especially the women who sustain it. He turned to film around 1960 to reach audiences that largely did not read French, and is often called the father of African cinema.

• Djibril Diop Mambéty — Senegalese filmmaker; Touki Bouki (1973) follows a young couple in Dakar who dream of leaving for Paris. Its discontinuous editing, recurring sounds, and fantastical imagery provide a different route through postcolonial experience from straightforward social realism.⁷

  • Touki Bouki — Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Touki Bouki follows Mory and Anta as they dream of leaving Senegal for Paris. Its surreal style includes the bull-skull motorcycle, Josephine Baker’s song, and abrupt shifts between violence, fantasy, and social satire.

Related Works, People, and Context

• Ken — Ken Loach is an English director known for social-realist films such as Kes, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, and I, Daniel Blake. His work often focuses on working-class life, labor, and welfare-state politics.

• British film directors

  • Anthony Minghella — Anthony Minghella was a British writer and film director best known for winning the Best Director Oscar for The English Patient. His other credits include Truly Madly Deeply, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain, Breaking and Entering, and work on television and stage.

  • Danny Boyle — Danny Boyle directed Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, Slumdog Millionaire, and 127 Hours. His films often feature stylized visual flourishes, including the famous ‘Choose life’ opening of Trainspotting.

    • Slumdog Millionaire — Slumdog Millionaire is Danny Boyle’s 2008 film about Jamal Malik’s rise from the streets of Mumbai to game-show victory. Its plot follows his love for Latika and ends with the hit song “Jai Ho.”

    • 127 Hours — 127 Hours is the film about Aron Ralston, who becomes trapped by a boulder in Blue John Canyon. It is adapted from Between a Rock and a Hard Place and refers to the amount of time he spends trapped.

    • 28 Days Later — 28 Days Later is Danny Boyle’s 2002 film about Jim waking from a coma to a Britain devastated by a rage virus. Its survivors include Frank and Hannah, and it famously mixes desolate London imagery with the threat of infected hordes.

  • Lindsay Anderson — Lindsay Anderson was a British filmmaker and critic born in Bangalore, India. He directed If…, O Lucky Man!, and Britannia Hospital, and also worked as an actor in films such as Chariots of Fire.

  • Mike Newell — Mike Newell is the British director chosen to helm Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. His selection followed Alfonso Cuarón’s decision to step away while working on the previous film.

  • Stephen Frears — Stephen Frears is a British film director associated with character-driven dramas and literary adaptations. His films include My Beautiful Laundrette, The Grifters, Dangerous Liaisons, and Florence Foster Jenkins.
    • Mary Reilly — Mary Reilly is Stephen Frears’s 1996 film adaptation of Valerie Martin’s novel, with Julia Roberts as the title character and John Malkovich as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The story centers on a maidservant in a horror retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll-and-Hyde premise.
  • Tony Richardson — Tony Richardson was a British film director associated with the British New Wave and Woodfall Films. He directed Tom Jones, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, and Look Back in Anger.
• British filmmakers
  • Derek Jarman — Derek Jarman was a British filmmaker and artist known for experimental, queer cinema such as Jubilee, Edward II, Caravaggio, and Blue. His final film, Blue, is a meditation on AIDS and failing eyesight presented over a single field of color.
    • Sebastiane — Sebastiane is Derek Jarman’s 1976 film about Saint Sebastian. It is noted for having dialogue entirely in Latin.

  • Steve McQueen — Steve McQueen is a British filmmaker and artist who won the Turner Prize before directing films such as Hunger, Shame, and 12 Years a Slave. His work also includes experimental video art and the stamp project Queen and Country honoring soldiers killed in the Iraq War.

  • Jonathan Glazer — Jonathan Glazer is a British filmmaker who began as a music-video director and later made the films Birth, Under the Skin, and The Zone of Interest. His work has also included the short Strasbourg 1518 and the Jamiroquai video “Virtual Insanity,” and he drew controversy for remarks made in an Oscars acceptance speech.

    • The Zone of Interest — The Zone of Interest is Jonathan Glazer’s 2023 film about Rudolf Höss and his family living beside Auschwitz. It uses thermal imagery and an austere domestic perspective to connect everyday life with the machinery of the Holocaust.

    • Under the Skin — Under the Skin is Jonathan Glazer’s 2013 film about an alien in Glasgow who lures men into an otherworldly trap and kills them. The film is noted for its eerie, minimalist tone and ends with the protagonist being destroyed after wandering the Scottish Highlands.

• Lone Scherfig — Lone Scherfig is a Danish film director whose international breakthrough was Italian for Beginners. Her English-language films include An Education and One Day, and her work is sometimes associated with Dogme 95’s more playful side.

• Ken Russell — Ken Russell was a British film director known for flamboyant, controversial films such as Women in Love, The Devils, and Altered States. His work often featured provocative imagery and clashes with censors and critics.
  • Altered States — Altered States is a 1980 film based on the novel by Paddy Chayefsky. It follows a scientist or psychologist who uses sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic drugs to explore altered states of consciousness and regress toward a more primitive form.
• Martin McDonagh
  • In Bruges — In Bruges is a 2008 black comedy written and directed by Martin McDonagh, starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as hitmen sent to lay low in the title Belgian city. It is especially known for Ray’s contemptuous line about the city and for its darkly comic violence and language.

• Michael Apted — Michael Apted directed documentaries and features including Thunderheart and Incident at Oglala. He is also associated with The World Is Not Enough.

• Michael Powell — Michael Powell was a British film director best known for his collaboration with Emeric Pressburger on The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus. His solo work includes Peeping Tom, a notorious proto-slasher film.
  • Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger — Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were a British filmmaking duo known as the Archers. They made films such as A Matter of Life and Death and Black Narcissus, and also adapted Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and The Red Shoes.
    • The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp — The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is the 1943 Powell and Pressburger film that follows a British officer through the Boer War, World War I, and World War II. Roger Livesey stars as the title general, with Deborah Kerr playing multiple red-haired women and Anton Walbrook appearing as his German counterpart.
• Michel Gondry — Michel Gondry is a French director known for inventive, whimsical films and music videos. His films include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind, The Green Hornet, and Dave Chappelle’s Block Party.

  • Be Kind Rewind — Be Kind Rewind is Michel Gondry’s 2008 comedy about a video store where erased tapes are replaced by homemade “sweded” versions of popular films. The plot follows Jack Black and Mos Def as they try to save the store, with Danny Glover playing its owner.

  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is Michel Gondry’s 2004 film from a Charlie Kaufman script about Joel Barish and Clementine. Its story centers on a procedure that erases memories of a failed relationship. Quiz clues often mention Lacuna, Inc., Montauk, and the film’s surreal visual scenes such as the snow-covered beach. The title comes from Pope’s Eloisa to Abelard.

  • The Science of Sleep — A 2006 surreal film by Michel Gondry starring Gael García Bernal as Stéphane, whose dream life repeatedly intrudes on reality as he makes confused attempts to tell dreams from waking life while pursuing his neighbor Stéphanie. It is noted for its handmade, surreal visual style.

• Nicolas Roeg — British film director and cinematographer known for visually experimental editing, fragmented storytelling, and surreal imagery. He directed Performance and Don’t Look Now, and also made Walkabout and The Man Who Fell to Earth.
  • The Man Who Fell to Earth — The Man Who Fell to Earth is a 1976 science-fiction film starring David Bowie as Thomas Jerome Newton, an alien who comes to Earth from a dying planet. The story follows his efforts to find water for his home world while he becomes increasingly entangled in earthly excess.
• Oliver Hirschbiegel
  • Downfall — Downfall is Oliver Hirschbiegel’s 2004 film about the final days of Hitler in the bunker. It stars Bruno Ganz as Hitler and draws on memoir material from Traudl Junge.
• Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano
  • The Intouchables — The Intouchables is the 2011 French film about the friendship between a wealthy quadriplegic aristocrat and his caregiver Driss. Its soundtrack use of Earth, Wind & Fire and its immense popularity made it one of the most successful French films internationally.
• René Laloux
  • Fantastic Planet — Fantastic Planet is René Laloux’s 1973 French-Czech animated science fiction film set on the planet Ygam. It depicts giant blue Draags and their oppressed Om humans, and its soundtrack has been widely sampled in hip-hop.
• Soviet filmmakers
  • Sergey Eisenstein — Sergey Eisenstein was a Soviet filmmaker known for Strike, October, Ivan the Terrible, and Battleship Potemkin. His other major films include The General Line, released as Old and New, and Que Viva Mexico!.

• Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould — Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould is François Girard’s film portrait of the eccentric Canadian pianist Glenn Gould. Its structure is a series of disconnected vignettes, and Bach’s Goldberg Variations are a major musical reference.

• Tod Browning — Tod Browning was an American director who moved from vaudeville and early acting into filmmaking, then became known for macabre films with Lon Chaney. His best-known works include Dracula and Freaks.
  • Freaks — Freaks is Tod Browning’s 1932 film about circus sideshow performers who are mocked, exploited, and then seek revenge after Cleopatra betrays Hans. Its most famous scene is the wedding feast chant of “one of us,” and the cast included performers such as Schlitzie and Prince Randian.
    • one of us — “One of us” is the chant from the 1932 film Freaks, where the circus performers accept Cleopatra into their community. The phrase is repeated alongside other crowd chants in the movie’s famous sequence.

Postwar and Contemporary American Directors

• Stanley Kubrick — perfectionist; worked across genres; Paths of Glory (1957), Spartacus (1960), Dr. Strangelove (1964), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Barry Lyndon (1975), The Shining (1980), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Eyes Wide Shut (1999, released after his death). He began with documentaries and later made acclaimed features such as The Killing and Lolita. His films are noted for highly controlled, visually distinctive style across genres, including war film, black comedy, science fiction, and psychological horror; Barry Lyndon is especially associated with candlelit photography, and 2001: A Space Odyssey introduced HAL 9000, one of cinema’s most famous computers.

  • Barry Lyndon — Barry Lyndon is a Stanley Kubrick film based on a Thackeray novel about an Irish opportunist who rises and falls in eighteenth-century Europe. It is famous for candlelit cinematography using special Zeiss lenses and for its paintings-influenced visual style.

  • Eyes Wide Shut — Stanley Kubrick’s final film follows William and Alice Harford as a wealthy Manhattan couple drawn into a nightmarish world of secrecy and sexual ritual. Key clues include the masked orgy, the blindfolded piano performance by Nick Nightingale, and the adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s story Traumnovelle.

  • Full Metal Jacket — Full Metal Jacket is Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam War film, adapted from Gustav Hasford’s The Short Timers. Its most famous material includes Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Private Pyle, Joker’s “Born to Kill” helmet, and the sniper sequence in Hue.
    • Private Leonard Lawrence — Private Leonard Lawrence is the Full Metal Jacket recruit nicknamed Gomer Pyle. He is beaten during boot camp, then kills Gunnery Sergeant Hartman and himself.
  • Paths of Glory — Paths of Glory is Stanley Kubrick’s anti-war film about a French World War I court-martial, with Colonel Dax defending soldiers who are condemned for a suicidal assault. Its title comes from Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” and its ending famously features “The Faithful Hussar.”
    • Antiwar drama set in World War I — The title and year point to a 1957 antiwar drama set during World War I. It is associated with Humphrey Cobb’s story that became the basis for the film Paths of Glory.
  • Spartacus
    • I’m Spartacus — “I’m Spartacus” is the defiant line from the 1960 film Spartacus in which captured slaves each claim to be their leader. The scene became a famous symbol of solidarity and was later parodied in films and television.
  • The Shining
    • Overlook Hotel — The Overlook Hotel is the haunted mountain resort in Stephen King’s The Shining. It is associated with Room 217, the caretaker Delbert Grady, Jack Torrance, and the phrase about all work and no play.
• Joel and Ethan Coen — Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), No Country for Old Men (2007, Best Picture, Best Director), True Grit (2010), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). They are American filmmakers whose work often blends dark comedy, crime, and deadpan dialogue. Later films include O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Burn After Reading, and they have used the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes and frequently collaborate with T-Bone Burnett.

  • Blood Simple — Blood Simple is the Coen brothers’ first film, a neo-noir in which a cheating wife, her lover, and a hired hit man spiral into violence. Frances McDormand stars in the film, whose title comes from Dashiell Hammett.

  • Ethan Coen — Ethan Coen is a filmmaker best known for his partnership with his brother Joel Coen. He has also published fiction and poetry, and he co-wrote and directed Drive-Away Dolls.

  • Hail, Caesar! — Hail, Caesar! is the Coen brothers’ 2016 Hollywood comedy about studio fixer Eddie Mannix trying to keep a biblical epic on schedule. The film follows kidnapped star Baird Whitlock and features a sequence built around the fictional production On Wings As Eagles.

  • Miller’s Crossing — Miller’s Crossing is a Coen brothers gangster film set in the Prohibition era, with Gabriel Byrne as the fixer Tom Reagan. Its plot turns on rival mobsters, a faked execution, and a notorious sequence set to “Danny Boy.”

  • O Brother, Where Art Thou? — The 2000 Coen brothers film stars George Clooney as Ulysses Everett McGill and is a Depression-era retelling loosely based on The Odyssey. It follows three escaped convicts in the Deep South, features the Soggy Bottom Boys and the Klan-rally cross scene, and was noted for being the first feature-length film to use digital color correction by Roger Deakins.

  • Raising Arizona — Raising Arizona is the Coen brothers’ 1987 comedy about a couple who kidnaps a furniture magnate’s quintuplet baby. It features Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, John Goodman, and the biker outlaw Leonard Smalls.

  • Roderick Jaynes — Roderick Jaynes is the pseudonym used by Joel and Ethan Coen when they receive editing credit on their films. The name became notable when Fargo was nominated for an editing Oscar under that fictional identity.

  • The Big Lebowski — The Big Lebowski is the Coen brothers cult crime comedy starring Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey “the Dude” Lebowski. Its most famous scenes involve bowling, white Russians, and the scattering of Donny’s ashes. The plot begins with a rug being ruined, a complaint that it really tied the room together.

    • Lebowski — Lebowski is the surname shared by Jeff Lebowski, Maude Lebowski, and the title character of The Big Lebowski. The Coen Brothers film centers on “The Dude,” a slacker whose rug is tied together with the plot involving a kidnapping and ransom.

    • The Dude — Jeff Lebowski, usually called “The Dude,” is the laid-back title character of The Big Lebowski. He spends his time bowling and drinking White Russians, prefers the nickname to his given name, and is a pacifist. The character becomes entangled with nihilists, Jackie Treehorn, and Maude after a rug in his apartment is ruined, and is also the center of the parody religion known as Dudeism.

    • The Dude or Duder or His Dudeness or El Duderino, if, you know, you’re not into the whole brevity thing — The Dude is the laid-back protagonist of The Big Lebowski, known for bowling, White Russians, and his deadpan refusal to abandon his lifestyle. He moves through the film with Walter Sobchak and Donny Kerabatsos as his closest companions.

    • The Dude’s rug — This rug in The Big Lebowski is the object that “really tied the room together” and is famously urinated on during the opening scene. Its loss motivates much of the film’s plot after reimbursement is denied.

    • Walter Sobchak — Walter Sobchak is John Goodman’s loud, volatile character in The Big Lebowski. He is a Jewish convert, owns a security firm, and is remembered for bowling rants, “Shabbos,” and lines about prior restraint and “the preferred nomenclature.”

• Quentin Tarantino — Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994, Palme d’Or; Tarantino and Roger Avary won Best Original Screenplay Oscar), Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Django Unchained (2012, Best Original Screenplay Oscar), The Hateful Eight (2015), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). American filmmaker known for stylized violence, nonlinear storytelling, and pop-culture dialogue. He also wrote the story on which Natural Born Killers is based.

  • Death Proof — Death Proof is Quentin Tarantino’s film about the stunt driver “Stuntman” Mike, who uses a reinforced car to kill women in staged crashes. It was released as part of the Grindhouse double bill and is best known for its long dialogue scenes, car-chase climax, and homage-heavy style.

  • Django Unchained — Django Unchained is Quentin Tarantino’s slavery-era western about a freed slave who becomes a bounty hunter and tries to rescue Broomhilda. Key clues include Dr. King Schultz, Calvin Candie, Candyland, and the film’s violent style and anachronistic soundtrack.

  • Inglourious Basterds — Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 World War II film about a Jewish-American commando squad operating in Nazi-occupied France, led by Aldo Raine and including Shoshanna and Hans Landa. Its climax destroys a Paris theater in a fire and kills Hitler and other Nazi leaders.
    • Nation’s Pride — Nation’s Pride is the fictional propaganda film inside Inglourious Basterds, directed by Alois von Eichberg in the movie’s world. It features Frederick Zoller reenacting his deadly sniper exploit.

  • Jackie Brown — Jackie Brown is a Quentin Tarantino film adapted from Elmore Leonard’s Rum Punch and starring Pam Grier as the title character.

  • Kill Bill

    • Gogo Yubari — Gogo Yubari is the teenage bodyguard of O-Ren Ishii in Kill Bill, Vol. 1. She is played by Chiaki Kuriyama, who became famous for Battle Royale, and her signature weapon is a chained ball weapon.

    • Kill Bill: Vol. 1 — Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 revenge film, the first half of Kill Bill. It follows Beatrix Kiddo, the Bride, as she tries to settle accounts with Bill and the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, and includes the showdown with Vernita Green, the Crazy 88 fight, and an anime-style sequence. Its stylized violence helped make “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” widely recognizable in North America.

    • Pai Mei — Pai Mei is a martial arts master from Kill Bill, portrayed by Gordon Liu. He trains the Bride in the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart technique and is ultimately poisoned by Elle Driver.

  • Reservoir Dogs — Reservoir Dogs is Quentin Tarantino’s crime film about the aftermath of a botched diamond heist. Its color-named thieves, infamous ear-cutting scene, and suspicion of a police informer make it one of his signature debut features.

    • Mr. Blonde — Mr. Blonde is the sadistic Michael Madsen character from Reservoir Dogs who tortures a police officer. He is also identified as Vic Vega, the brother of Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction.

    • Mr. Pink — Mr. Pink is the Reservoir Dogs nickname of Steve Buscemi’s diamond-thief character. He is the holdout who refuses to tip and complains about people acting like professionals.

    • Mr. White — Mr. White, also called Larry Dimmick, is Harvey Keitel’s character in Reservoir Dogs. He is the professional thief who tries to manage the heist’s collapse and ultimately kills Mr. Orange after learning he is an undercover cop.

  • The Hateful Eight — The Hateful Eight is Quentin Tarantino’s 2015 Western set around a group of post-Civil War outlaws trapped together in a cabin or haberdashery during a blizzard. Ennio Morricone won his first competitive Oscar for the film’s score.
• David Fincher — Se7en (1995), Fight Club (1999), Zodiac (2007), The Social Network (2010), Gone Girl (2014). He is an American film director known for dark, stylized thrillers and dramas; he also directed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).

  • Panic Room — Panic Room is a 2002 thriller about people trapped inside a fortified room during a home invasion. Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart star in the film.

  • The Social Network — The Social Network is David Fincher’s film about the creation of Facebook, with a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Its memorable soundtrack cues include “Hand Covers Bruise” and a reworked “In the Hall of the Mountain King” during the Henley Royal Regatta scene.

  • Fight Club
    • Tyler Durden — Tyler Durden is the charismatic, anarchic alter ego at the center of Fight Club, played by Brad Pitt in the film adaptation. He works odd jobs around the city, sells soap, and becomes the founder of Project Mayhem. He is also revealed to be a projection of the nameless narrator’s mind.

  • Se7en — Se7en is David Fincher’s 1995 crime film about detectives hunting a serial killer who frames his murders around the seven deadly sins. It stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman and ends with the infamous box scene.

  • Zodiac — Zodiac is David Fincher’s 2007 film about the San Francisco Chronicle’s investigation of the Zodiac Killer. It is noted for its stylized reconstruction of Bay Area murders and its visual effects work.

  • Alien 3 — Alien 3 is David Fincher’s 1992 entry in the Alien film series, set on the penal colony Fiorina 161. It follows a crash landing by survivors from the previous film and was famously troubled by studio interference.
• Christopher Nolan — Memento (2000), The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), Dunkirk (2017), Tenet (2020), Oppenheimer (2023, Best Picture, Best Director — his first). He also directed The Prestige and the Dark Knight trilogy. His films often feature nonlinear structure, recurring visual motifs, and technically elaborate action set pieces.
  • Batman Begins — Batman Begins is the 2005 film that tells the origin story of Bruce Wayne and begins Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. It features Henri Ducard, later revealed as Ra’s al Ghul, the League of Shadows, and the microwave-emitter plot with Rachel Dawes.
    • Henri Ducard — Henri Ducard is the alias used by Ra’s al Ghul’s recruiter in Batman Begins, played by Liam Neeson. He is the faux mentor who offers Bruce Wayne a place in the League of Shadows after Wayne is imprisoned.
  • Interstellar — Interstellar is Christopher Nolan’s 2014 science-fiction film about a mission through a wormhole and into the black hole Gargantua. Matthew McConaughey plays Cooper, with Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, and a stranded Matt Damon among its central cast.
    • Murphy Cooper — Murphy Cooper is a character in Interstellar, played by Jessica Chastain as an adult. She is the daughter of Cooper and is tied to the film’s wormhole, black-hole data, and time-dilation plot.

  • Memento — Memento is Christopher Nolan’s reverse-chronology thriller about Leonard, a man with anterograde amnesia who tattoos clues about his wife’s murderer. Its black-and-white and color sequences are interwoven in opposite narrative directions, making the film a favorite question about nonlinear structure.

  • The Prestige — The Prestige is Christopher Nolan’s film about rival magicians Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, adapted from Christopher Priest’s novel. Its best-known tricks include the Transported Man and a device associated with Nikola Tesla, played by David Bowie.

  • The Dark Knight
    • Why so serious? — “Why so serious?” is the Joker’s taunting line from The Dark Knight, delivered in the middle of his escalating campaign of chaos. The phrase became closely associated with the film’s marketing and with the character’s backstory of violence and disfigurement.
• Paul Thomas Anderson — Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999), There Will Be Blood (2007), The Master (2012), Phantom Thread (2017).

  • Magnolia — Magnolia is Paul Thomas Anderson’s ensemble drama about intersecting lives in Los Angeles, featuring Frank T.J. Mackey, Earl Partridge, and the quiz-show host Jimmy Gator. Its famous set pieces include the dying-man prologue, the Rain of Frogs, and the synchronized sing-along to “Wise Up”. The title also refers to the flowering tree with large fragrant blossoms, often associated with the American South, especially Mississippi.

  • Phantom Thread — Phantom Thread is a Paul Thomas Anderson film set around the House of Woodcock and a fashion designer played by Daniel Day-Lewis. The film centers on his controlling relationship with Alma and ends with her secretly poisoning him with a mushroom omelet.

  • Punch-Drunk Love — Punch-Drunk Love is a 2002 Paul Thomas Anderson film starring Adam Sandler as Barry Egan, a lonely salesman. The plot involves a phone-sex line, a Hawaii trip fueled by a frequent-flier promotion, and Sandler in an unusually dramatic role.

  • Boogie Nights — Boogie Nights is Paul Thomas Anderson’s film about the rise and fall of porn actor Dirk Diggler and producer Jack Horner. Set in the 1970s and 1980s adult-film world, it includes the characters Rollergirl, Amber, Scotty, and Little Bill.

    • Dirk Diggler — Dirk Diggler is the pornographic actor protagonist of Boogie Nights, born Eddie Adams. He is discovered by Jack Horner and becomes famous through the fictional Brock Landers series before drug abuse and personal decline.
• Sofia Coppola — The Virgin Suicides (1999), Lost in Translation (2003, Best Original Screenplay Oscar — first American woman to win that award), Marie Antoinette (2006). She is the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola and is known for stylized films about alienation and youth.
  • The Bling Ring — The Bling Ring is Sofia Coppola’s 2013 film about teenagers who burglarized celebrity homes in Hollywood. It stars Emma Watson and is based on the real-life group by that nickname.
• Wes Anderson — Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic (2004), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Isle of Dogs (2018), The French Dispatch (2021).

  • Asteroid City — Asteroid City is the 2023 Wes Anderson film centered on a fictional play and a desert town quarantine story. Its cast includes Jason Schwartzman, Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, and other recurring Anderson collaborators.

  • Bottle Rocket — Bottle Rocket is Wes Anderson’s debut feature, starring Luke and Owen Wilson as the aimless would-be criminals Anthony and Dignan. It became known for its quirky dialogue and for the early critical championing it received despite weak test screenings.

  • The Darjeeling Limited — The Darjeeling Limited is Wes Anderson’s 2007 film about three brothers traveling together on a train in India. Its 13-minute prologue Hotel Chevalier stars Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman as former lovers.

  • The Grand Budapest Hotel — The Grand Budapest Hotel is Wes Anderson’s comic caper about concierge Monsieur Gustave H. and his protégé Zero Moustafa. Set in the fictional Zubrowka, it turns on Madame D.’s death, a stolen painting, prison escape, and Anderson’s usual stylized visual symmetry.

  • The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou — This Wes Anderson film follows eccentric oceanographer Steve Zissou as he hunts the jaguar shark that killed his partner and best friend Esteban. It is set largely aboard the Belafonte, a former World War II submarine hunter, and its soundtrack prominently features David Bowie songs sung in Portuguese by Seu Jorge.

  • The Royal Tenenbaums — The Royal Tenenbaums is Wes Anderson’s 2001 family comedy-drama about the gifted Tenenbaum children and their estranged father, Royal. Its deadpan visual style, chapter-like structure, and cast led by Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Ben Stiller are all characteristic clues.

    • Royal Tenenbaum — Royal Tenenbaum is the estranged patriarch in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, where he returns to his family after faking a terminal illness. Gene Hackman played him, and the film centers on his children Chas, Richie, and the adopted Margot.

    • Margot Tenenbaum — Margot Tenenbaum is a character in The Royal Tenenbaums, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. She is remembered for her adopted status, her marriages, and her cool, withdrawn entrance set to music.

• Jordan Peele — Get Out (2017, Best Original Screenplay Oscar — first Black screenwriter to win), Us (2019), Nope (2022). He is an American filmmaker and comedian. He first gained fame as one half of the comedy duo Key & Peele with Keegan-Michael Key.
  • Get Out — Get Out is Jordan Peele’s 2017 horror film about Chris Washington visiting his white girlfriend’s family and uncovering a racist conspiracy. Major clues include the “sunken place,” the teacup hypnosis trigger, and the film’s Oscar-winning screenplay. It stars Daniel Kaluuya and was widely discussed as a social thriller.
    • the Sunken Place — The Sunken Place in Get Out is the trance-like mental space where Chris Washington becomes trapped after hypnosis. Jordan Peele used it as a metaphor for marginalization and loss of agency.
  • US — Us is Jordan Peele’s horror film about the Tethered, underground doubles who rise up and attack their above-ground counterparts. Clues often mention the Jeremiah 11:11 sign, the Santa Cruz beach setting, and the film’s twist on family and national identity.

• Barry Jenkins — Moonlight (2016, Best Picture — notable for the La La Land envelope mix-up at the ceremony); If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), The Underground Railroad (2021 miniseries). Jenkins is an American filmmaker; Moonlight is divided into the chapters Little, Chiron, and Black, and If Beale Street Could Talk follows Sharon’s efforts to clear Fonny from a wrongful conviction.

• David Lynch — Eraserhead (1977), The Elephant Man (1980), Blue Velvet (1986), Mulholland Drive (2001); also created Twin Peaks (1990); known for surrealist, dreamlike style; died in 2025. He co-created Twin Peaks with Mark Frost and directed the 1984 film adaptation of Dune; his work often paired eerie imagery with unsettling sound and shifting identities.
  • Blue Velvet — Blue Velvet is a David Lynch film about Jeffrey Beaumont’s unsettling discovery of a severed ear and his entanglement with Dorothy Vallens and Frank Booth. Its imagery, sexual violence, and dreamlike ending made it one of Lynch’s most famous and controversial films.
    • Frank Booth — Frank Booth is the violent criminal played by Dennis Hopper in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet. He is known for his gas-mask-like device, his obsession with Dorothy Vallens, and his outburst about Pabst Blue Ribbon.

  • Eraserhead — Eraserhead is David Lynch’s surreal 1977 debut feature, centered on Henry Spencer and his grotesque newborn-like child in a bleak industrial landscape. Its nightmares, industrial soundscape, and imagery such as the “In Heaven” singer and the sperm-like figure emerging from Henry’s mouth make it a landmark of experimental horror.

  • Inland Empire — Inland Empire is a 2006 David Lynch film in which Laura Dern plays an actress whose identity begins to blur with the role she is performing. Its dreamlike structure and use of recurring musical cues make it one of Lynch’s most experimental films.

  • Lost Highway — Lost Highway is a 1997 David Lynch film that follows a disorienting, noir-like descent into identity confusion. It features the Mystery Man and stars Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, and Balthazar Getty.

  • The Straight Story — David Lynch’s The Straight Story follows Alvin Straight, an elderly man who crosses Iowa and Wisconsin on a riding lawnmower to reconcile with his estranged brother. The film is based on a true story and was nominated for an Academy Award for Richard Farnsworth.

  • Wild at Heart — Wild at Heart is David Lynch’s 1990 film adaptation of Barry Gifford’s novel, starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern as lovers on the run. Its soundtrack also helped feature Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game,” and the film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.

  • Mulholland Drive — David Lynch’s surreal neo-noir film set partly on the Los Angeles road of that name. It follows Betty Elms and an amnesiac woman calling herself Rita through Hollywood dream logic and a shifting identity mystery, and features Club Silencio, the mysterious blue box and key, and the film-within-a-film The Sylvia North Story.
    • The blue box — The blue box is a mysterious object in Mulholland Drive, associated with Betty’s handbag and Club Silencio. It is one of the film’s most discussed symbols and is deliberately left unexplained.
  • The Elephant Man — The Elephant Man is the David Lynch film about Joseph Merrick, the severely deformed man portrayed by John Hurt. It follows Merrick’s relationship with Dr. Frederick Treves and became known for its black-and-white cinematography and the line “I am not an animal!”
• Spike Lee — She’s Gotta Have It (1986), Do the Right Thing (1989), Malcolm X (1992), 25th Hour (2002), BlacKkKlansman (2018, Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar); frequently uses a “double dolly” tracking technique. He is an American filmmaker; his work often features New York settings and political, racially charged ensemble scenes, including scenes set at Sal’s Pizzeria. He also appears in several of his own films, and Da 5 Bloods is among his later directorial features.

  • 4 Little Girls — 4 Little Girls is Spike Lee’s documentary about the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. It memorializes Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, and Carole Robertson.

  • Do the Right Thing — Do the Right Thing is Spike Lee’s 1989 film set on the hottest day of the summer in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The plot turns on the racial tensions surrounding Sal’s pizzeria, Radio Raheem’s death, and Mookie’s trash-can smash that sparks a riot. It also features the “Fight the Power” boom box and a climactic confrontation with police.

    • Radio Raheem — Radio Raheem is the boombox-carrying character in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. His death at the hands of police becomes the catalyst for the film’s riot and the destruction of Sal’s pizzeria.

    • Sal’s Pizzeria — Sal’s Pizzeria is the pizza shop in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing where Mookie works. The restaurant becomes central to the film’s final riot, and its wall displays portraits of Italian-American figures before protests over representation.

  • Get on the Bus — Get on the Bus is a Spike Lee film about a group of men traveling together to the Million Man March. Its ensemble includes Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Ossie Davis, and Bernie Mac.

  • He Got Game — He Got Game is Spike Lee’s 1998 basketball film about Jesus Shuttlesworth and his parolee father Jake. The film stars Denzel Washington and Ray Allen and is associated with a Public Enemy theme song.

  • Inside Man — Inside Man is Spike Lee’s 2006 heist film starring Denzel Washington and Clive Owen. Its plot involves a bank robbery, hidden evidence connecting a financier to Nazi collaboration, and a soundtrack that opens with “Chaiya Chaiya.”

  • Mo’ Better Blues — Mo’ Better Blues is a Spike Lee film about trumpet player Bleek Gilliam, played by Denzel Washington. It follows his career in jazz and became controversial for its portrayal of club owners and its loose connection to Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

  • She Hate Me — She Hate Me is a 2004 Spike Lee film centered on a man who becomes a paid surrogate father for lesbians. It was associated with controversy over sexual content and stars Anthony Mackie.

  • She’s Gotta Have It — She’s Gotta Have It is Spike Lee’s debut feature, centered on Nola Darling and her three suitors. The title also belongs to the later TV adaptation, which revisits the same character and setting.

  • Summer of Sam — Summer of Sam is Spike Lee’s 1999 film about New York Italians living in fear during the David Berkowitz murders. It stars John Leguizamo and Adrien Brody and is notable for its unusually high count of a certain swear word.

  • Mars Blackmon — Mars Blackmon is Spike Lee’s hyperactive, sneaker-obsessed alter ego, best known from Nike commercials with Michael Jordan. He also appears in She’s Gotta Have It as a bike messenger and comic foil in romantic entanglements.

  • BlacKkKlansman — A 2018 Spike Lee film about Colorado detective Ron Stallworth infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan with help from Flip Zimmerman. It includes a record-office scene, a monologue by Alec Baldwin, and a dedication to Heather Heyer. It ends with images of the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally and other footage tied to David Duke and the violence that followed.

  • Bamboozled — Bamboozled is Spike Lee’s 2000 film about a television producer whose proposed minstrel show becomes a grotesque hit. It satirizes blackface entertainment through the fictional New Millennium Minstrel Show and stars Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, and Tommy Davidson.
• Robert Zemeckis — Back to the Future (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Forrest Gump (1994, Best Picture and Best Director), Cast Away (2000).
  • Forrest Gump — Forrest Gump is the 1994 film about a simple-minded Alabama man who drifts through major events while loving Jenny Curran, playing ping-pong, and building a shrimp business with Bubba and Lieutenant Dan. The title character is played by Tom Hanks.
    • Jenny Curran — Jenny Curran is Forrest Gump’s childhood love interest, played by Robin Wright in the film adaptation. She drifts in and out of Forrest’s life, briefly becomes a singer and single mother, and is implied to die of AIDS after they reunite.
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit — Who Framed Roger Rabbit is the 1988 live-action/animated comedy directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant, a hard-boiled detective drawn into Toontown’s troubles. The film centers on murders, Judge Doom’s scheme, and memorable musical and animation set pieces, and it is also known for an exceptionally long credit roll.

    • Judge Doom — Judge Doom is the villain in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, played by Christopher Lloyd. He is revealed to be a Toon and the murderer of Eddie Valiant’s brother.

    • Roger Rabbit — Roger Rabbit is the animated title character of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a 1988 film blending live action and animation. He is married to Jessica Rabbit and becomes involved in the framing of Marvin Acme and the machinations of Judge Doom.

    • The Dip — The Dip is the destructive toon-killing chemical from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, a corrosive mixture of turpentine, acetone, and benzene. Judge Doom uses it as a means of wiping out Toontown.

  • Back to the Future — Back to the Future is the time-travel film series starring Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown. Its key clues include the DeLorean, the lightning-struck clock tower, Biff Tannen, and the “roads? where we’re going” line.

    • “Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads.” — “Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads.” is the line delivered in Back to the Future. It is one of that film’s most famous quoted moments.

    • Back to the Future Part II — Back to the Future Part II is the 1989 sequel in which Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to 2015 to stop trouble involving Marty Jr. It is famous for the sports almanac plot and for Michael J. Fox starring in the lead role.

    • Biff Tannen — Biff Tannen is the bully from the Back to the Future films, where he steals the time machine’s advantage by using a sports almanac to get rich. He is George and Marty McFly’s enemy and is linked to the Tannen family across the trilogy.

    • Doc Brown — Doc Brown is the eccentric inventor in Back to the Future who builds the time-traveling DeLorean for Marty McFly. He is associated with the Hill Valley clock tower strike of lightning and the trilogy’s jumps between the present, the future, and the Old West.

    • Enchantment Under the Sea Dance — The Enchantment Under the Sea Dance is the school dance in Back to the Future where George and Lorraine McFly fall in love. It is also jokingly called the Fish Under the Sea Dance.

    • Flux capacitor — The flux capacitor is the fictional device in Back to the Future that makes time travel possible. It is famously said to require 1.21 gigawatts to activate in Doc Brown’s DeLorean.

    • Hill Valley — Hill Valley is the fictional California town from Back to the Future, home of Marty McFly and Doc Brown. Its landmarks include Twin Pines Mall, the courthouse clock, and the changing names of streets and ravines across the trilogy’s timelines.

    • Marty McFly — Marty McFly is the time-traveling protagonist of the Back to the Future series, played by Michael J. Fox. He drives Doc Brown’s DeLorean, appears in the Hill Valley–centered trilogy, and plays in the Pinheads. His family history is tied to Seamus McFly and the Tannen feud, and the series’ notable elements include the Hill Valley clock tower and the sports almanac.

• Tim Burton — Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Ed Wood (1994), Big Eyes (2014); distinctive gothic-whimsical aesthetic; frequent collaborator with Johnny Depp and composer Danny Elfman.

  • Corpse Bride — Corpse Bride is the 2005 stop-motion animated film directed by Tim Burton. It follows Victor Van Dort and Victoria and includes the piano duet tribute to Ray Harryhausen.

  • Edward Scissorhands — Edward Scissorhands is the Tim Burton title character with scissor blades for hands, a gentle personality, and a memorable suburban setting with topiary creations. The film follows his awkward integration into the Boggs family after Peg Boggs discovers him in a castle-like residence.

  • Mars Attacks! — Mars Attacks! is Tim Burton’s 1996 sci-fi parody of 1950s alien-invasion movies. The film includes a large ensemble cast and ends with the aliens defeated by Slim Whitman’s “Indian Love Call.”

  • Batman
    • The Lego Batman Movie — The Lego Batman Movie is a 2017 animated film in which Batman must confront his isolation, adopt a young orphan, and stop the Joker’s plot involving the Phantom Zone. It riffs on Batman lore while turning the hero’s toy-brick world into a family comedy.
  • Beetlejuice — Beetlejuice is Tim Burton’s 1988 film about a ghost summoned by saying his name three times, and it later inspired a musical. The name also belongs to entertainer Lester Green, who went viral for his distinctive catchphrases.
• Ridley Scott — Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Thelma & Louise (1991), Gladiator (2000, Best Picture), Black Hawk Down (2001). He is a British director known for science fiction, historical epics, and stylized big-budget films. His films also include The Last Duel, House of Gucci, and Napoleon.
  • Blade Runner

    • Replicants — Replicants are the humanlike synthetic beings in Blade Runner, built to be visually indistinguishable from adult humans. They are often used as soldiers or laborers in off-world colonies and are hunted by blade runners when they go rogue.

    • Rick Deckard — Rick Deckard is the blade runner who hunts replicants in Blade Runner and its sequel setting. He is marked by the noir detective style, his relationship with Rachael, and the question of whether he himself is human.

    • Roy Batty — Roy Batty is the rogue replicant in Blade Runner, played by Rutger Hauer, who comes to Earth seeking more life. He is remembered for saving Deckard and for the dying soliloquy about tears in rain and C-beams near the Tannhauser Gate.

  • Kingdom of Heaven — Kingdom of Heaven is Ridley Scott’s Crusades-era film starring Orlando Bloom as Balian and Liam Neeson as Godfrey de Ibelin. It was filmed in part on a recreated medieval Jerusalem set in Morocco and dramatizes the struggle between the Crusader kingdom and Saladin.

  • Legend — A legend is a traditional story about heroic figures or local history, and on maps the same word labels the key explaining symbols. The word also names Ridley Scott’s fantasy film Legend, starring Tom Cruise and Mia Sara, with music by Tangerine Dream or Jerry Goldsmith depending on the cut.

  • Thelma & Louise — A 1991 Ridley Scott road film about two women whose road trip turns into a flight from the law after a violent encounter and a robbery; they flee their bleak lives and become fugitives. It ends with the title characters driving their car off a canyon in Monument Valley.

  • White Squall — White Squall is the Ridley Scott film about the sail-training ship Albatross, based on a true story.

  • Alien

    • Ellen Ripley — Ellen Ripley is Sigourney Weaver’s heroine from the Alien franchise. She survives the Nostromo, fights the xenomorph queen in Aliens, and is often identified by her long stasis sleep and rescue of Newt. Clues also mention her daughter Amanda, the Weyland-Yutani corporation, and the ship names Nostromo, Sulaco, and Auriga.

    • Weyland-Yutani — Weyland-Yutani is the shadowy corporation from the Alien franchise that keeps trying to capture the xenomorph for weapons research. The name combines the company founded by Peter Weyland with the name of Yutani, giving the series one of its most recognizable corporate villains.

  • The Martian — The Martian is the 2015 science-fiction film in which Matt Damon plays Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded on Mars. Its survival story centers on improvised farming, including the use of human waste to fertilize potatoes.

  • The Last Duel — The Last Duel is Ridley Scott’s 2021 historical film about the final officially sanctioned trial by combat in French history. It stars Matt Damon and Adam Driver in medieval France.

  • Gladiator (2000) — Ridley Scott’s Roman revenge epic won Best Picture and Best Actor for Russell Crowe and helped revive the large-scale sword-and-sandal film in mainstream cinema.
• James Cameron — The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), Titanic (1997, 11 Oscars, Best Picture), Avatar (2009, first film to gross $2 billion); known for technological innovation and personally diving to the Titanic wreck.

  • James Francis Cameron — James Cameron is the filmmaker behind Titanic, Avatar, The Abyss, and The Terminator. He is also known for technological spectacle and for traveling to the Mariana Trench in the Deepsea Challenger submersible.

  • Terminator 2: Judgment Day — Terminator 2: Judgment Day is James Cameron’s 1991 sequel starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton. It is famous for its T-1000 effects, including the liquid-metal shape-shifting sequence created by ILM. The film also includes the Los Angeles canal chase and a widely quoted “Get down” scene.

    • characters
      • T-1000 — The T-1000 is the liquid-metal Terminator antagonist of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. It can mimic human forms, impersonate a police officer, and reform after being shattered or frozen.
• Denis Villeneuve — Canadian director; Incendies (2010), Prisoners (2013), Arrival (2016), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Dune (2021), Dune: Part Two (2024). He is a Québécois filmmaker known for psychologically intense, visually controlled films such as Enemy, and his success in Canadian cinema led to major Hollywood projects.

  • Arrival — Arrival is the 2016 Denis Villeneuve film in which linguist Louise Banks communicates with alien heptapods. Its reverse-chronological revelation of time, distinctive alien language, and visual design are major clues.

  • Blade Runner 2049 — Blade Runner 2049 is Denis Villeneuve’s sequel to Blade Runner, set in the year 2049 and starring Ryan Gosling as the replicant officer K. Its clues include the baseline test with “cells” and “interlinked,” Niander Wallace, Joi, and the buried wooden horse memory.

  • Sicario — Sicario is Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 thriller about the hunt for a Mexican cartel leader. It stars Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro, and the title means “hitman” in Spanish.

• Damien Chazelle — Whiplash (2014), La La Land (2016, Best Director — youngest person to win at age 32), First Man (2018), Babylon (2022).

  • Whiplash — Whiplash is Damien Chazelle’s 2014 drama about a young drummer pushed to the brink by a brutally demanding jazz instructor. The film climaxes with Miles Teller’s character defying his conductor and launching into a blistering performance of “Caravan.”

  • La La Land — La La Land is the 2016 musical film starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling as an aspiring actress and a jazz pianist. Its signature clues include “Another Day of Sun,” the Griffith Observatory dance, the recurring “serious firefighter” joke, and the awkward Oscar mix-up in which it was first announced as Best Picture.

    • City of Stars — “City of Stars” is the La La Land song that won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It is sung as a duet by Mia and Sebastian and again as a solo by Sebastian.
• Greta Gerwig — Lady Bird (2017), Little Women (2019), Barbie (2023, the highest-grossing film directed by a woman). She is an American filmmaker and actor who began in mumblecore indie films before moving into major directing work. She also acted in Hannah Takes the Stairs and Frances Ha, and her films often center on anxious, self-inventing women.

  • Lady Bird — Lady Bird is Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age film about a Sacramento teenager trying to leave for college on the East Coast. It stars Saoirse Ronan and centers on the title character’s strained relationship with her mother and her high school social life.

  • Barbie — Barbie is the Mattel fashion doll and the title of Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film starring Margot Robbie. The film pairs Barbie with Ken, and its plot features her encounter with the real world and the strange “Mojo Dojo Casa House.” Earlier clues point to Barbie as a toy line with a Dream House, a pink convertible, and numerous animated films.

• Ava DuVernay — Selma (2014), 13th (2016 documentary), A Wrinkle in Time (2018); first Black woman to direct a film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (Selma). Ava DuVernay is an African-American filmmaker who directed Selma, Middle of Nowhere, and the documentary 13th. She also created When They See Us and founded ARRAY to distribute films by women and people of color.
  • When They See Us — When They See Us is Ava DuVernay’s Netflix miniseries about the wrongful conviction and eventual exoneration of the Central Park Five. It dramatizes the interrogations, convictions, and aftermath of the case.
• Kathryn Bigelow — Near Dark (1987), Point Break (1991), Strange Days (1995), The Hurt Locker (2009, Best Director — first woman to win), Zero Dark Thirty (2012). Other films include Blue Steel and K-19: The Widowmaker.
  • Zero Dark Thirty — Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty dramatizes the hunt for Osama bin Laden and culminates in the raid on Abbottabad by Seal Team Six. The film stars Jessica Chastain as CIA analyst Maya and was controversial for its apparent endorsement of torture.
• John Huston — The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948, won Best Director and Best Supporting Actor — both he and his father Walter won Oscars for the same film), The African Queen (1951), Chinatown (1974, as actor), Prizzi’s Honor (1985). American film director and screenwriter; son of actor Walter Huston. He also directed The Asphalt Jungle, The Misfits, and the documentary Let There Be Light, about shell-shocked World War II veterans, and later directed his daughter Anjelica in The Dead.

  • Prizzi’s Honor — Prizzi’s Honor is John Huston’s 1985 crime film about mafia assassins who fall in love while working on opposing sides. It stars Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner, with Angelica Huston winning an Oscar for her role. The movie’s title refers to the powerful Prizzi crime family.

  • The Misfits — The Misfits are a horror-punk band founded by Glenn Danzig, known for albums like American Psycho and Famous Monsters. They are also the title of the 1961 western drama that was Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable’s last completed film.

  • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre — The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is John Huston’s 1948 film about American prospectors searching for gold in Mexico. Starring Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston, it is remembered for its feverish paranoia, its dust-storm ending, and the line about not needing “stinking badges.”

  • The African Queen — The African Queen is a John Huston adventure film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn as a mismatched pair on a steamboat in World War I Africa. Co-written by James Agee, it follows their attempt to destroy a German warship and is one of Bogart’s signature roles.

    • African Queen — The African Queen is the 1951 film adaptation of C. S. Forester’s novel about Rose Sayer and Charlie Allnutt. The title vessel is used in the story’s attempt to destroy a German gunboat, and the film won Humphrey Bogart an Oscar.

    • Charlie Allnut — Charlie Allnut is the riverboat captain played by Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen. He and Rose Sayer navigate the boat through East Africa and escape execution after their ordeal.

• Woody Allen — prolific writer-director; Annie Hall (1977, Best Picture), Manhattan (1979), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Midnight in Paris (2011); wrote and starred in nearly all his films. His films often feature self-referential jokes, Jewish humor, and New York intellectuals, along with recurring collaborators like Diane Keaton and cameos such as Marshall McLuhan in Annie Hall.

  • A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy — Woody Allen’s A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy is a 1982 film about three couples whose relationships become entangled during a weekend retreat. It stars Mia Farrow and draws its title from Shakespeare while borrowing some of the atmosphere of Bergman.

  • Bullets Over Broadway — Bullets Over Broadway is a 1994 Woody Allen comedy set in Prohibition-era New York and centered on playwright David Shayne. Dianne Wiest won an Oscar for playing Helen Sinclair, and the film is remembered for its show-business chaos and gangster financing.

  • Crimes and Misdemeanors — Crimes and Misdemeanors is the 1989 Woody Allen film about an idealistic filmmaker who profiles a pompous television producer. It is remembered for Jerry Orbach and Sam Waterston as a mobster and rabbi, and for Allen’s dark comedy about guilt and people getting away with murder.

  • Deconstructing Harry — Deconstructing Harry is the 1997 Woody Allen film about Harry Block, a writer whose personal life and fiction blur together. It features surreal visits to Hell, a Devil played by Billy Crystal, and cameos that satirize the title character’s self-destructive creativity.

  • Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) — Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) is Woody Allen’s 1972 anthology comedy adapted from David Reuben’s book. Its disconnected sketches range from a panel-game parody and a giant breast to Allen’s comic roles as sperm and other absurd sexual fantasies.

  • Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) — Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) is a 1972 Woody Allen comedy. Its vignettes satirize sexual anxieties through sketches about aphrodisiacs, transvestites, and other taboos.

  • Hannah and Her Sisters — Hannah and Her Sisters is a 1986 Woody Allen film centered on three sisters and their entangled relationships. It features Manhattan settings, musical cues like Madama Butterfly and Bach, and scenes involving Michael Caine, Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey, and Dianne Wiest.

  • Hollywood Ending — Hollywood Ending is a 2002 Woody Allen film about a director whose ex-wife is played by Téa Leoni.

  • Mighty Aphrodite — Mighty Aphrodite is the Woody Allen film in which Lenny Weinrib searches for the birth mother of his adopted son and discovers she is a sex worker. Mira Sorvino won the supporting actress Oscar for the role. Its clues often mention the Greek chorus and the film’s jazz-inflected soundtrack.

  • Play It Again, Sam — Play It Again, Sam is Woody Allen’s film about Allan Felix, a movie-obsessed divorcé who is guided by imagined advice from Humphrey Bogart. The film riffs on Casablanca and centers on Felix’s awkward romances with Linda and other women.

  • Radio Days — Radio Days is a Woody Allen film set during the opening years of World War II and told through memories of radio-era family life. It includes a scene with Mia Farrow as an aspiring broadcast performer whose on-air debut is interrupted by news of Pearl Harbor.

  • Sleeper — Sleeper is Woody Allen’s science-fiction comedy about Miles Monroe, a health-food-store owner cryogenically frozen and awakened in the future. The film satirizes a bizarrely repressed future society, including the Orgasmatron and a robotized confessional.

  • Sweet and Lowdown — Sweet and Lowdown is a 1999 Woody Allen film about the fictional jazz guitarist Emmett Ray, played by Sean Penn. The story frames Ray as a brilliant musician who is always compared unfavorably with Django Reinhardt.

  • Take the Money and Run — Take the Money and Run is Woody Allen’s 1969 directorial debut, starring Allen as the bungling thief Virgil Starkwell. It is remembered for the bank-robbery notes that are misread as a gun threat, and it shares its title with a Steve Miller Band song about robbers Billy Joe and Bobby Sue.

  • The Curse of the Jade Scorpion — The Curse of the Jade Scorpion is Woody Allen’s 2001 comedy about an insurance investigator and an efficiency expert who are manipulated by hypnosis. Its cast includes Helen Hunt, Charlize Theron, Dan Aykroyd, and Elizabeth Berkley.

  • What’s Up, Tiger Lily? — What’s Up, Tiger Lily? is Woody Allen’s re-dubbed Japanese spy film built around a new comic plot about searching for an egg-salad recipe. The film’s humor comes from replacing the original dialogue of International Secret Police: Key of Keys with absurd English lines and characters like Suki and Teri Yaki.

  • Zelig — Zelig is Woody Allen’s mockumentary about a human chameleon who appears in newsreel footage across the twentieth century. Mia Farrow plays Dr. Fletcher, and the title character is repeatedly shown as a celebrity shape-shifter.

  • Midnight in Paris — Midnight in Paris is a Woody Allen fantasy-comedy about a writer who time-travels through the title city and meets figures such as Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Dalí. The film stars Owen Wilson as Gil and Rachel McAdams as Inez.

• Devil in a Blue Dress — Carl Franklin’s 1995 neo-noir Devil in a Blue Dress stars Denzel Washington as Easy Rawlins, a World War II veteran pulled into a search for a politician’s missing fiancée. The film is adapted from Walter Mosley’s novel and also features Jennifer Beals and Don Cheadle as Mouse.

• Coen brothers films
  • Barton Fink — Barton Fink is a Coen brothers film, with Joel Coen and Ethan Coen credited as its principal creators. The film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and is one of their best-known early works.
• Rian Johnson
  • Knives Out — Knives Out is Rian Johnson’s 2019 mystery film about the wealthy Thrombey family and nurse Marta, who cannot lie without vomiting. Benoit Blanc investigates the death of Harlan Thrombey in a case filled with inheritance disputes, family feuding, and comic reversals.
    • Glass Onion — Glass Onion is the sequel to Knives Out, centered on detective Benoit Blanc visiting billionaire Miles Bron’s Greek-island mansion. The title refers to the location’s layered, puzzle-box structure and the film’s satirical take on wealth and deception.
• Richard Kelly
  • Donnie Darko — Donnie Darko is Richard Kelly’s cult film about a troubled teenager named Donnie and his visions of time travel. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and includes the character Sparkle Motion, with a later sequel, S. Darko, built around the same world.
    • Jim Cunningham — Jim Cunningham is the smug self-help guru played by Patrick Swayze in Donnie Darko. He is the man Donnie is ordered to burn down after Frank’s instructions lead to the arson scene.

• Roger Avary — Roger Avary is a filmmaker and screenwriter who co-wrote Pulp Fiction with Quentin Tarantino. He directed Killing Zoe and The Rules of Attraction.

• The Coen brothers
  • Fargo — Fargo is the Coen brothers’ crime film and the FX anthology series inspired by it, both set around murders in Minnesota and North Dakota. Key clues include Marge Gunderson, a wood chipper, Lorne Malvo, V. M. Varga, and the episode tagline “This is a true story.”

    • Isolation — The quoted line is from the Coen brothers’ film Fargo, spoken in the film’s distinctive Upper Midwest accent. The scene is associated with the movie’s darkly comic depiction of Minnesota and North Dakota speech patterns.

    • Marge Gunderson — Marge Gunderson is the pregnant Brainerd police chief played by Frances McDormand in Fargo. She investigates a string of kidnappings and murders and finally catches Gaear Greimrud as he feeds a body into a woodchipper.

  • Llewyn Davis — Llewyn Davis is the struggling folk singer at the center of the Coen brothers’ 2013 film Inside Llewyn Davis. He moves through Greenwich Village’s Beat scene, crosses paths with Bob Dylan, and is remembered for songs like the novelty hit “Please, Mr. Kennedy.”
• Deuce Bigalow
  • Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo — Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo is the Rob Schneider comedy identified by the line about a man who is still unattractive when the lights go out. It is one of the signature vehicles associated with Schneider’s broad late-1990s and early-2000s film career.

• Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo — Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo is the 2005 Rob Schneider comedy mocked by Roger Ebert. The quoted insult from Ebert became a famous clue about his harsh review of the film.

• Kill Bill

  • Beatrix Kiddo — Beatrix Kiddo is the real name of Uma Thurman’s character in the Kill Bill films, better known as The Bride or The Black Mamba. Her name is revealed in the second film after being withheld through most of the first.

  • O-Ren Ishii — O-Ren Ishii is a character in Kill Bill and a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. She becomes a powerful Yakuza boss and is known by the codename Cottonmouth.

  • Pussy Wagon — The Pussy Wagon is the car driven by the Bride in Kill Bill. It becomes memorable for its bright styling and for the keychain-linked reveal of its name.

• Kingsman franchise
  • Kingsman: The Secret Service — Kingsman: The Secret Service is a 2014 spy comedy about Eggsy joining a stylish British secret-service organization. Its plot centers on Richmond Valentine’s scheme to use SIM cards and cell signals to trigger mass violence, while memorable set pieces include the church fight and the “Manners maketh man” scene.

• Quentin (Jerome) Tarantino — Quentin Tarantino is the writer-director behind Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Django Unchained, and Kill Bill. His films are known for stylized violence, pop-culture dialogue, and recurring motifs such as feet, restaurant chains, and revenge plots.

• Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez
  • Grindhouse — Grindhouse is Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s 2007 double feature pairing Planet Terror and Death Proof. It is framed as a tribute to exploitation cinema, complete with missing reels and fake trailers such as “Werewolf Women of the S.S.”
• Robert Rodriguez — Mexican-American filmmaker known for the El Mariachi trilogy, Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, Sin City, Spy Kids, Machete, and Planet Terror. He collaborated with Quentin Tarantino on Grindhouse.

  • Desperado — Desperado is Robert Rodriguez’s action film starring Antonio Banderas as a guitar-carrying gunslinger seeking revenge on the drug lord Bucho. The film features Salma Hayek, Tarantino’s cameo narration, and the mariachi-themed soundtrack that opens over a flashback performance.

  • El Mariachi — El Mariachi is Robert Rodriguez’s low-budget 1993 debut film about a wandering musician mistaken for a violent gunman. Its tiny budget and breakout success made it famous, and it led to the sequel Desperado.

  • The Faculty — Robert Rodriguez’s 1998 film The Faculty is set at Herrington High School, where alien parasites take over the student body and faculty. It stars Josh Hartnett and Elijah Wood and includes Jon Stewart and Usher in supporting roles.

• Three Kings — Three Kings is a 1999 film directed by David O. Russell and set in post-Gulf War Iraq. It stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and Spike Jonze as soldiers searching for stolen gold bullion.

• David Simon
  • Generation Kill — Generation Kill is an HBO miniseries adapted from Evan Wright’s account of the Iraq War and the U.S. Marine Corps’ First Reconnaissance Battalion. The series is known for its realistic depiction of the early invasion of Iraq and for being written by David Simon.

• Disturbia — Disturbia is the 2007 thriller in which Shia LaBeouf plays a teenager placed under house arrest who suspects his neighbor is a serial killer. The film echoes Rear Window and pairs LaBeouf with Sarah Roemer.

• Edgar Wright — Edgar Wright is the English director behind Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Baby Driver. His style is known for rapid cutting, whip pans, and tightly matched edits.

  • Baby Driver — Baby Driver is Edgar Wright’s 2017 getaway-car film about a young driver with tinnitus who times his life to music. It follows his work for a criminal mastermind and features set-piece chases and robberies, including the famous opening drive to “Bellbottoms.”

  • Cornetto Trilogy
    • Hot Fuzz — Hot Fuzz is Edgar Wright’s British buddy-cop spoof starring Simon Pegg as Nicholas Angel and Nick Frost as Danny Butterman. Set in Sandford, it revolves around a Neighborhood Watch conspiracy and belongs to the Cornetto Trilogy.
      • Sandford — Sandford is the fictional Gloucestershire village in Hot Fuzz, the rural setting to which Nicholas Angel is assigned. It is portrayed as an idyllic but crime-ridden model village.

  • The World’s End — The World’s End is the third film in Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy, following a group of old friends on an epic pub crawl in Newton Haven. The outing turns into a confrontation with alien replacements known as blanks.

  • Scott Pilgrim vs. the World — Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is the 2010 Edgar Wright film adapted from Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels. It follows Scott Pilgrim as he battles Ramona Flowers’s seven evil exes, with Sex Bob-Omb, Gideon Graves, and Julie Powers among its recurring names.

• Kalifornia — Kalifornia is a road thriller about two journalists traveling cross-country to visit sites linked to serial killings. Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis appear as a violent hitchhiking couple who accompany them.

• Shane Black

  • Kiss Kiss Bang Bang — Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a 2005 film about Harry Lockhart, an accidental actor who gets drawn into a murder mystery in Los Angeles. Val Kilmer plays the detective Gay Perry, and Robert Downey Jr. narrates the film as Harry.

  • The Nice Guys — The Nice Guys is Shane Black’s 2016 neo-noir buddy comedy set in 1970s Los Angeles. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe play a mismatched pair investigating a missing girl amid a plot involving adult-film footage and auto-industry cover-ups.

• The Woodsman — The Woodsman is a 2004 film directed by Nicole Kassell and starring Kevin Bacon as Walter, a lumbermill worker released from prison after serving time for pedophilia. It also features Kyra Sedgwick and Mos Def in supporting roles.

• Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead — Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead is a 1995 crime film named for a Warren Zevon song. Its darkly comic plot follows a failed criminal scheme involving a cast of eccentric underworld characters.

• Uwe Boll — Uwe Boll is a German film director notorious for video-game adaptations such as House of the Dead, Postal, Far Cry, and Rampage. He is also known for his combative response to critics and for a self-described auteur persona backed by a doctorate in literature.

• Andrew Niccol
  • Lord of War — Lord of War is an Andrew Niccol film about the arms dealer Yuri Orlov, played by Nicolas Cage. The story follows his illicit weapons trade, his brother Vitaly, and the Interpol agent Jack Valentine.

• Inception — Inception is Christopher Nolan’s 2010 film about dream extraction, in which Dom Cobb is hired to plant an idea in Robert Fischer’s mind. It is famous for its ambiguous ending, the spinning totem, and the meme line “We need to go deeper.”

• Jason Reitman
  • Juno
    • Juno MacGuff — Juno MacGuff is the sharp-tongued title teenager of the film Juno, a pregnant high schooler whose situation drives the story’s adoption plot. She is portrayed by Ellen Page and becomes involved with Paulie Bleeker and the Lorings.
  • Up in the Air — Up in the Air is a 2009 film directed by Jason Reitman and starring George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizer who travels constantly to fire employees. It also features Vera Farmiga as Alex Goran and Anna Kendrick as Natalie Keener, alongside Clooney’s race to ten million frequent-flier miles.
• Jay Roach — Jay Roach is an American film director known for the Austin Powers series, Meet the Parents, and The Campaign. He also directed the film adaptation of Game Change and has worked in both comedy and political drama.

  • Meet the Fockers — Meet the Fockers is the sequel to Meet the Parents, bringing in Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman as Ben Stiller’s parents. The comedy leans on awkward family humor and increasingly outrageous sexual misunderstandings.

  • Meet the Parents — Meet the Parents is the 2000 comedy starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller about Greg Focker trying to win over his girlfriend’s family. The film’s set pieces include a lie detector test, a disastrous volleyball game, and a series of humiliations involving the family cat.

    • Gaylord “Greg” Focker — Gaylord “Greg” Focker is Ben Stiller’s awkward male nurse protagonist in the Meet the Parents films. He is the son-in-law of Robert De Niro’s retired CIA agent character Jack Byrnes and is known for a string of humiliating family mishaps.

• Jumper — Jumper is the 2008 film about a young man who can teleport, based on Stephen Gould’s novel. The title also matches the Third Eye Blind song whose chorus warns a friend to step back from the ledge.

• Jungle 2 Jungle — Jungle 2 Jungle is a 1997 Disney comedy remake of the French film Little Indian, Big City, starring Tim Allen and Martin Short. The plot follows a stockbroker whose estranged wife lives in the Brazilian rainforest and whose son is brought to New York, creating a culture clash.

• Junior — Junior is the 1994 comedy in which Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a scientist whose experimental fertility treatment leaves him pregnant. The title word is also the usual nickname for the senator with the shorter consecutive term in a state delegation.

• Just One of the Guys — Just One of the Guys is a 1985 teen comedy about a girl who disguises herself as a boy to be taken seriously as a journalist. It stars Joyce Hyser and is remembered for its gender-switching premise and high school setting.

• Just Visiting — Just Visiting is a 2001 time-travel comedy starring Jean Reno and Christina Applegate. It is an American remake of the French film Les Visiteurs.

• K-PAX — K-PAX is the 2001 film about Prot, a psychiatric patient played by Kevin Spacey who may be an extraterrestrial visitor. Its tagline, “Change the way you look at the world,” is one of the movie’s best-known identifying clues.

• Keanu — Keanu is the title character of the comedy film about a cat that falls into the wrong hands, a parody centered on the star of the John Wick movies. The name also points to Keanu Reeves, whose early fame came from action and fantasy roles before he later played Hamlet onstage.

• Tenet — Tenet is Christopher Nolan’s 2020 action thriller built around time inversion and reversed entropy. It follows the unnamed Protagonist, Andrei Sator, and the organization that carries out a pincer-style operation to stop the algorithm.

• Waking Life — Waking Life is Richard Linklater’s rotoscoped film about an unnamed dreamer who drifts through philosophical conversations and keeps realizing he is still dreaming. Its episodic scenes include appearances by Alex Jones and a return visit from Jesse and Celine, linking it to Linklater’s earlier work and later Before Sunset continuity.

• Alexander Payne — Alexander Payne is an American film director known for black-comedy dramas such as Election, Sideways, The Descendants, and Nebraska. His films often center on awkward, ordinary people facing disappointment, small ambitions, and bitterly funny moral compromises.

  • Sideways — Sideways is Alexander Payne’s 2004 road comedy about two friends traveling through California wine country. It stars Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, and its obsession with Pinot Noir became famous after the film boosted that wine’s sales and hurt Merlot.

  • The Holdovers — The Holdovers is Alexander Payne’s 2023 film about a curmudgeonly classics teacher, a grieving cook, and a stranded student left together at a New England boarding school over winter break. Paul Giamatti stars alongside Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

  • The Descendants — The Descendants is the Disney film series about the children of famous villains from the Disney canon. The franchise includes later entries such as The Rise of Red and centers on Auradon Prep and characters like Mal, Carlos, and Uma.

  • About Schmidt — “About Schmidt” is Alexander Payne’s 2002 film about a recently retired Omaha actuary who travels by Winnebago to a wedding after his wife dies. Along the way, he writes letters to a boy he sponsors in Africa and confronts the emptiness of his life, while Kathy Bates appears as the woman in the film’s notorious hot-tub scene.

• Just Friends — Just Friends is the 2005 romantic comedy in which Ryan Reynolds plays Chris, a former overweight teen who returns home and tries to win over Jamie, played by Amy Smart. The film follows his awkward high-school rejection and later womanizing persona.

• Kenneth Lonergan — Kenneth Lonergan is the writer-director of Manchester by the Sea and You Can Count on Me, and he also wrote Margaret and The Waverly Gallery. His work often centers on grief, family collapse, and emotionally stalled characters.

  • You Can Count on Me — You Can Count on Me is a film written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, starring Laura Linney and Matthew Broderick. It follows a single mother, her son, and her estranged brother in a small Catskills town.

  • Manchester By the Sea — Manchester by the Sea is Kenneth Lonergan’s tragic film about Lee Chandler, whose grief and guilt center on the care of his nephew after a family death. The title also refers to the Massachusetts North Shore town with that name, which was disambiguated by adding “by the Sea.”

• Kill Your Darlings — Kill Your Darlings is a film about a young Allen Ginsberg and the literary circle around Lucien Carr. The phrase also recalls Arthur Quiller-Couch’s maxim “kill your darlings,” which advises writers to cut unnecessary material.

• There Will Be Blood — Paul Thomas Anderson’s film about oilman Daniel Plainview and his brutal, ruthless rise in early California, centered on his drive to strike it rich. It is marked by the line “I drink your milkshake,” Eli Sunday, the Church of the Third Revelation, the opening prospecting sequence and deafening explosion, and Plainview’s violent showdown with Eli Sunday and bowling-pin murder at the end.

• Coppola family
  • Coppola — Coppola is the surname of the filmmaking family that includes Francis Ford Coppola and Sofia Coppola. Clues often point to The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, or Lost in Translation.

• Dirty Dancing — Dirty Dancing is a 1987 film starring Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze, set at a Catskills resort. It is known for “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” the lift scene, and the line “Nobody puts Baby in the corner.”

• Roman Coppola — Roman Coppola is a film director and music-video director who worked on videos for the Strokes and Matthew Sweet. He also served as a second-unit director on films such as Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides.

• To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar — To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar is the 1995 road movie about three drag queens traveling across the United States. It stars Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo and is known for its campy lines, rules of love, and Vida Bohème’s opening monologue.

• Tom Ford
  • Nocturnal Animals — Nocturnal Animals is Tom Ford’s psychological thriller about a gallery owner named Susan and the novel written by her ex-husband Edward. It stars Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal and opens with a provocative conceptual-art sequence.

• Kicking & Screaming — Kicking & Screaming is a 2005 Will Ferrell comedy about a youth soccer coach, Phil Weston, who goes up against his hypercompetitive father Buck. The film features a junior soccer league run with help from Mike Ditka and ends with Phil leading the Tigers to victory.

• Robert Eggers
  • The Witch — The Witch is a 2015 horror film set in Puritan New England in which Thomasin’s family is tormented by witchcraft and the goat Black Phillip. It ends with Thomasin joining a coven in the forest.

• Thoroughbreds — Thoroughbreds is a 2017 thriller about two wealthy Connecticut teenagers, Lily and Amanda, with Anton Yelchin as a would-be assassin in his final film role. Its plot turns on Amanda taking a roofied drink so she can be framed for killing Lily’s stepfather, and it includes a letter about her dream of a town overrun by title animals.

• Wes Anderson — American film director known for highly stylized comedies built around deadpan ensembles, meticulous symmetry, and recurring collaborators like Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, and Adrien Brody. His films include Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Isle of Dogs. He also directed a Prada short in which a man crashes during a cross-country endurance race; recurring details include the Khaki Scouts, the Belafonte, and Mr. Gustave and Zero at the Grand Budapest.

• There’s Something About Mary — There’s Something About Mary is the 1998 Farrelly Brothers comedy starring Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz. Its most famous gags include the hair-gel scene and the many humiliations surrounding Mary and her suitors.

• Amour — Michael Haneke’s 2012 film follows an elderly French couple as Anne suffers a stroke and her health declines. It stars Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant, and it was nominated for both Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.

• filmmakers
  • Harmony Korine — Harmony Korine is an American filmmaker and writer associated with highly controversial independent films such as Gummo and Spring Breakers. He also wrote the screenplay for Kids and has been known for abrasive, surreal projects like Fight Harm and julien donkey-boy.

    • Gummo — Gummo is Harmony Korine’s 1997 directorial debut, set in Xenia, Ohio after the 1974 tornado. Its episodic scenes follow boys such as Solomon and Tummler amid unsettling images of violence, poverty, and decay.

    • Spring Breakers — Spring Breakers is Harmony Korine’s 2012 film about college-age women who fund a Florida spring break trip through crime and end up in the orbit of the gangster Alien, played by James Franco. It is known for its neon party imagery, Skrillex-driven soundtrack, and surreal scenes of robbery, violence, and beachside excess.

  • Ismail Merchant and James Ivory — Ismail Merchant and James Ivory formed the filmmaking partnership known as Merchant Ivory Productions. Their collaborations with Ruth Prawer Jhabvala included literary adaptations such as The Householder, A Room with a View, Howards End, and The Remains of the Day.

  • Samuel Fuller — Samuel Fuller was an American filmmaker known for tough, low-budget genre movies such as The Steel Helmet, Pickup on South Street, Shock Corridor, and The Big Red One. He also appeared in films by Wim Wenders and Jean-Luc Godard, and he described cinema as a battleground of love, hate, action, violence, and death.

  • Wachowski — The Wachowskis are the filmmaking siblings behind The Matrix, Jupiter Ascending, and Sense8. They are also associated with the film’s “bullet time” visual effects.

  • Asif Kapadia — Asif Kapadia is the British filmmaker who directed Amy, the documentary about Amy Winehouse. He is especially known for archive-based documentaries, and Amy won him the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

  • Film directors

    • Cary Joji Fukunaga — Cary Joji Fukunaga is an American filmmaker known for directing Beasts of No Nation and the James Bond film No Time to Die. He also helped direct True Detective and adapted Jane Eyre in a well-regarded early feature.

    • John Frankenheimer — John Frankenheimer was a film director known for The Manchurian Candidate, Birdman of Alcatraz, and Ronin. His later television work won multiple Emmys, and he is also remembered for directing a film climax during Super Bowl X. Early in his career he made major 1960s films about Nazis, political paranoia, and prison. The Manchurian Candidate is his best-known title and a frequent clue.
      • The Manchurian Candidate — The Manchurian Candidate is a political thriller about a Korean War veteran brainwashed into becoming an assassin. John Frankenheimer directed the 1962 original, which starred Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, and Laurence Harvey.

        • queen of diamonds — The queen of diamonds is the playing card used to trigger the brainwashing in The Manchurian Candidate. It is also the object associated with the title of the film’s central manipulation and recurring memory imagery.

        • Raymond Shaw — Raymond Shaw is the brainwashed Medal of Honor winner at the center of The Manchurian Candidate. Under hypnosis and triggered by solitaire, he becomes a pawn in a political assassination plot directed through his mother.

    • Sam Raimi — Sam Raimi is an American filmmaker, producer, and director best known for the Evil Dead films and the Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire. He also directed Drag Me to Hell and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and executive-produced Legend of the Seeker. His television producing credits include Xena: Warrior Princess and Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

      • Drag Me to Hell — Drag Me to Hell is Sam Raimi’s 2009 horror film about Christine Brown, a bank officer cursed by Mrs. Ganush after denying her a loan extension. The film features the Lamia curse and was promoted as Raimi’s return to horror.

      • Spiderman 2 — Spider-Man 2 is the 2004 superhero film directed by Sam Raimi. The answer set here only identifies the film and its director, without additional plot clues.

      • Darkman — Darkman is Sam Raimi’s 1990 comic-book-style revenge film about a scientist horribly scarred in an explosion. Liam Neeson plays Peyton Westlake, who uses artificial skin to seek revenge, and the film also stars Frances McDormand.

      • Evil Dead — Evil Dead is Sam Raimi’s horror-comedy franchise starring Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams. The series is known for demonic possession, the Necronomicon, and splattery set pieces that culminate in absurd time travel and body-horror gags.

        • Army of Darkness — Army of Darkness is the third Evil Dead film, starring Bruce Campbell as Ash after he is sent back to the Middle Ages. The film centers on Ash’s attempt to recover the Necronomicon while fighting medieval undead, knights, and skeletons.
  • Frank Oz — Frank Oz is the filmmaker and puppeteer who directed Little Shop of Horrors, In & Out, Bowfinger, and The Stepford Wives. He is also widely known as the performer behind Yoda and Miss Piggy from his years with Jim Henson’s productions.

    • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels — Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is the 1988 Frank Oz comedy about rival con men on the French Riviera. Starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine, it is based on Bedtime Story and later became a Broadway musical.

    • What About Bob? — What About Bob? is a 1991 comedy directed by Frank Oz and starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss. The plot follows a phobic patient who follows psychiatrist Leo Marvin on vacation and slowly drives him mad. Its memorable details include the ‘Baby Steps’ routine and the character’s trip to Lake Winnepesaukee.

  • James Ivory — James Ivory was a filmmaker known for elegant period dramas such as A Room with a View, Howards End, Maurice, and The Remains of the Day. He frequently worked with producer Ismail Merchant and writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and he won an Academy Award for the screenplay of Call Me by Your Name.

  • John Lloyd Sullivan — John Lloyd Sullivan was a filmmaker and comedian associated with O Brother, Where Art Thou? and other early sound-era comedy shorts. He also made educational films and became known for a distinctive mix of music, satire, and travel material.

  • Kevin Smith — Kevin Smith is a New Jersey filmmaker and writer-director associated with the View Askewniverse. His films include Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Mallrats, and Jersey Girl, and he is closely associated with Jay and Silent Bob; he also plays Silent Bob. He is known for Smodcast, the horror film Tusk, self-referential cameos in his films, and being removed from a Southwest flight.
    • Clerks — Clerks is Kevin Smith’s black-and-white debut feature, set largely around a New Jersey convenience store and video shop. Its cast includes Dante Hicks and Randall Graves, and the film is notorious for its rude humor and repeated line about not being there that day.

      • Dante Hicks — Dante Hicks is the quick-witted convenience-store clerk from Clerks who keeps insisting he was not supposed to be there that day. He works at the Quick Stop, argues with Randal, and is the central character of Kevin Smith’s early Askewniverse film.

      • The Quick Stop — The Quick Stop is the convenience store at the center of Kevin Smith’s Clerks. It is associated with Dante Hicks and Jay and Silent Bob, along with a string of deadpan workplace gags and customer absurdities.

    • Clerks 2 — Clerks 2 is Kevin Smith’s sequel to Clerks, centered on Randal Graves and Dante Hicks. It is known for a long Star Wars-versus-Lord of the Rings riff and a dance sequence at Mooby’s set to the Jackson 5’s “ABC.”

    • Jay and Silent Bob — Jay and Silent Bob are the recurring Kevin Smith characters played by Jason Mewes and Smith himself. They appear across the View Askewniverse films, including Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and later crossovers.

    • Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back — Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is the 2001 Kevin Smith film built around Jay and Silent Bob, with a huge comic and celebrity cameo lineup. It revolves around the Bluntman and Chronic movie property, and it includes appearances by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Biggs, and Mark Hamill.
      • Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season — Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season is the fake sequel film in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, supposedly starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Gus van Sant even appears as its director in a cameo.
    • View Askewniverse
      • Silent Bob — Silent Bob is Kevin Smith’s usually silent half of the Jay and Silent Bob pair, appearing across the View Askewniverse films. He is remembered for deadpan monologues about lasagna, Jedi philosophy, and movie-reference humor.

    • Zack and Miri Make a Porno — Zack and Miri Make a Porno is the Kevin Smith comedy about roommates who decide to make an amateur sex film. It stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, and its plot includes the viral video “granny panties” and a film-within-the-film called Star Whores.

    • Chasing Amy — Chasing Amy is Kevin Smith’s 1997 film about Holden McNeil, Alyssa Jones, and the strain their relationship places on Holden’s friendship with Banky. It is the final film in Smith’s New Jersey trilogy. The title refers to an offscreen comic-book idea that returns at the film’s end, which is why clues often emphasize the comic-book framing rather than the title as a person. It is a standard answer for questions about Kevin Smith’s early work.
      • Alyssa Jones — Alyssa Jones is a comic-book creator and the former best friend of Caitlin Bree in Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy. She is nicknamed “Finger Cuffs” after a high-school incident, and her relationship history becomes a major point of conflict with Holden.

  • Merian C. Cooper — Merian C. Cooper was a filmmaker and producer best known for co-directing King Kong with Ernest B. Schoedsack. He also worked on Grass and later produced films such as The Quiet Man.

  • Sarah Polley — Sarah Polley is a Canadian actress and filmmaker known for directing Away from Her, Stories We Tell, and an adaptation of Alias Grace. She began as a child and teen actress, appearing in The Sweet Hereafter and the Dawn of the Dead remake before moving into directing and screenwriting.

  • Van Peebles — The surname Van Peebles belongs to the father-and-son filmmakers Melvin and Mario. Melvin directed the influential blaxploitation film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, and Mario later directed New Jack City.

    • Melvin Van Peebles (father) — Melvin Van Peebles was an American filmmaker, writer, and actor associated with independent Black cinema. He was the father of actor Mario Van Peebles, who appeared in films such as Solo and Highlander III.

    • Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song — Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song is a 1971 Melvin Van Peebles film that helped launch blaxploitation cinema. It follows a fugitive who rebels against the police and the white power structure after violent confrontations.

  • Zach Braff — Zach Braff is an actor and filmmaker best known for playing J.D. on Scrubs. He wrote, directed, and starred in Garden State, in which he played Andrew Largeman, and later directed Wish I Was Here. He was also the subject of an early internet death hoax.

• The Fog — John Carpenter’s The Fog concerns a coastal town terrorized by ghosts from a murdered leper colony hidden inside a supernatural fog. It stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Adrienne Barbeau, and Carpenter appears onscreen in a supporting role.

• Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me — David Lynch’s 1992 film prequel to Twin Peaks, centered on the final days and murder investigation of Laura Palmer. It stars Sheryl Lee as Laura Palmer and features characters such as BOB, Ronette Pulaski, and Agent Jeffries, with appearances by David Bowie and Chris Isaak.

• 25th Hour — This Spike Lee film centers on Monty Brogan, a drug dealer facing his last day before prison. Edward Norton stars as the lead, and the title refers to the final stretch before his sentence begins.

• Drama films
  • Jungle Fever — Jungle Fever is a 1991 Spike Lee film about an interracial relationship between a Black man and an Italian-American woman. It stars Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra, with supporting performances by Anthony Quinn and Queen Latifah.
• Chris Columbus — Chris Columbus is the filmmaker who directed Mrs. Doubtfire, the first two Home Alone films, and early Harry Potter installments. He also began as a screenwriter at Amblin before moving into directing with Adventures in Babysitting.

  • Bicentennial Man — Bicentennial Man is the Robin Williams film about a robot who spends two centuries trying to become human, directed by Chris Columbus and based on an Isaac Asimov story. It is adapted from Asimov’s short story and shares its premise with the later novel The Positronic Man.

  • Home Alone — Home Alone is the Christmas comedy in which Kevin McCallister is left behind and battles the Wet Bandits with booby traps. The film also features Old Man Marley, Harry and Marv, and the famous aftershave scream.

    • Home Alone 2: Lost in New York — Home Alone 2: Lost in New York follows Kevin McCallister after he boards the wrong flight and ends up alone in Manhattan. He battles Harry and Marv again, while the Plaza Hotel and the Bird Lady become central parts of the story.

    • Home Alone 3 — Home Alone 3 is the 1997 sequel in the Home Alone film series, starring Alex D. Linz instead of Macaulay Culkin. It introduced a new cast in place of the original Wet Bandits storyline.

  • Mrs. Doubtfire — Mrs. Doubtfire is the 1993 film in which Robin Williams’s character disguises himself as a Scottish nanny after his divorce. The disguise becomes Euphegenia Doubtfire, and the film includes the famous run-by fruiting and the children’s show ending.

  • Only the Lonely — Only the Lonely is a film written by Chris Columbus and starring John Candy as a police officer trying to start a relationship while living with his overbearing mother. The title comes from the Roy Orbison song “Only the Lonely,” which is also echoed by the film’s emotional tone.
• Doug Liman — Doug Liman is a film director known for Swingers, Go, The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Edge of Tomorrow. He also made Fair Game, Locked Down, and Chaos Walking.
  • Swingers — Swingers is a 1996 film about two Los Angeles friends drifting through the nightlife and trying to meet women in Vegas and Hollywood. It is remembered for lines like “You are so money” and for helping define the cool-guy comedy of the late 1990s.

• Kangaroo Jack — Kangaroo Jack is the comedy about two men who lose mob money in Australia and spend the film chasing the titular kangaroo. It is also remembered for featuring a computer-animated, rapping kangaroo and for being a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced family film.

• A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors — The third film in the Freddy Krueger series, also labeled Part III, follows Nancy at a psychiatric institution where she works with nightmare-sharing children and discovers Kristen’s special gift. Freddy’s attacks include the “Welcome to prime time, bitch!” scene, the use of Hypnocil, and surreal dream-talk-show set pieces in which he replaces Dick Cavett and silences Zsa Zsa Gabor.

• The Wicker Man — The Wicker Man is a horror film about a policeman drawn to Summerisle, where a pagan community destroys him in a wicker effigy. It is especially remembered both for the 1973 version with Christopher Lee and for the 2006 remake starring Nicolas Cage and the line about the bees.

• Tobe Hooper — Tobe Hooper was the American horror director best known for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and later Poltergeist. He also worked in television and other genre projects, building a career around low-budget shock cinema.

  • Lifeforce — Lifeforce is a 1985 science-fiction horror film directed by Tobe Hooper and adapted from Colin Wilson’s novel Space Vampires. It opens with the shuttle Churchill finding a mysterious ship in Halley’s Comet, and its released alien beings help unleash a zombie-like plague in London.

  • The Texas Chainsaw Massacre — The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is Tobe Hooper’s 1974 horror film about Leatherface and a cannibalistic family, loosely inspired by Ed Gein. Its rough, notorious reputation helped make it a cult landmark.

  • The Texas Chain Saw Massacre — The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the 1974 slasher film directed by Tobe Hooper that made Leatherface infamous. Its dinner-table scene, roadside terror, and reversal of normal family horror helped make it a landmark of the genre.

    • Leatherface — Leatherface is the chainsaw-wielding killer from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, known for the Barbecue & Chili and Franklin’s Demise perks in games based on the franchise. The character was originally played by Gunnar Hansen and is associated with the real-life Ed Gein-inspired slasher film that pursues Sally Hardesty.

• Kickboxer — Kickboxer is the Jean-Claude Van Damme martial-arts film in which Kurt Sloane seeks revenge after his brother is crippled by Tong Po. The series spawned sequels and is remembered for its villainous Thai fighter and training montage setup.

• The Year of Living Dangerously — The Year of Living Dangerously is the 1982 film adaptation of Christopher Koch’s novel about a journalist in politically unstable Indonesia. It is especially known for Linda Hunt’s Oscar-winning performance as the male photographer Billy Kwan.

• Tony Scott

  • The Last Boy Scout — A 1991 action film starring Bruce Willis as private detective Joe Hallenbeck and Damon Wayans as former quarterback Jimmy Dix, who team up to solve a murder. Its plot centers on the killing of a topless dancer and a hard-edged investigation full of wisecracks and violence. Halle Berry appears early in her career.

  • True Romance — True Romance is Tony Scott’s film about Clarence and Alabama, newlyweds who flee with stolen cocaine and get tangled with gangsters. Written by Quentin Tarantino, it features Patricia Arquette and Christian Slater, with Val Kilmer appearing as Elvis.

• Demolition Man — Demolition Man is the 1993 action-sci-fi film in which John Spartan battles Simon Phoenix in a sanitized future Los Angeles called San Angeles. The movie stars Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, and Sandra Bullock and features the futuristic social satire of Taco Bell restaurants and “sotto voce” fines.

• James Gunn — James Gunn is a filmmaker known for directing multiple Marvel films and The Suicide Squad. He was briefly fired and later rehired by Disney after old tweets resurfaced, and he is associated with the rebooted DC film Superman: Legacy.
  • Guardians of the Galaxy — Guardians of the Galaxy is the Marvel film about Peter Quill’s misfit team, including Rocket, Groot, Drax, Gamora, and Star-Lord. The story begins with the theft of an orb and culminates in a battle to stop Ronan from destroying Xandar.
    • Yondu Udonta — Yondu Udonta is the blue-skinned archer and Ravager leader from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy films. He is also Peter Quill’s surrogate father figure in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
• James Mangold
  • Ford v Ferrari — Ford v Ferrari is a 2019 film directed by James Mangold about the rivalry between Ford and Ferrari at Le Mans and the development of the GT40. It stars Christian Bale as Ken Miles and Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby.
• Jurassic Park
  • Jurassic World — Jurassic World is the 2015 sequel set in a functioning dinosaur theme park, starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. The film features the Indominus rex, a gyroscope ride, and a returning role for B. D. Wong as a geneticist.
    • Indominus rex — Indominus rex is the genetically engineered hybrid dinosaur from Jurassic World. It combines DNA from Tyrannosaurus rex, Velociraptor, tree frog, cuttlefish, and other species.
  • The Lost World: Jurassic Park — The Lost World: Jurassic Park is Steven Spielberg’s sequel to Jurassic Park, featuring Ian Malcolm, Sarah Harding, and the InGen executive Peter Ludlow. Its memorable scenes include the Tyrannosaurus rampage in San Diego and characters such as photographer Nick Van Owen and the snake-bitten Robert Burke.

• Just Cause — Just Cause is an Avalanche Studios open-world action series starring Rico Rodriguez, set across tropical island nations and built around chaotic vehicle combat. The series is known for its grappling hook, parachuting, and wingsuit traversal, and its title also recalls the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama.

• Kazaam — Kazaam is the 1996 film starring Shaquille O’Neal as a genie who emerges from a boombox to help a boy named Max. The movie is remembered for its absurd premise and for Paul Michael Glaser’s direction.

• Kerry Conran
  • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow — Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is a 2004 science-fiction adventure film directed by Kerry Conran and starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie. Set in an alternate-history world filled with robots and vanished scientists, it was shot largely on blue screen and features digitally altered footage of Laurence Olivier.

• Michael Bay — Michael Bay is an action director known for loud, bombastic blockbusters including Bad Boys, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, The Rock, The Island, the Transformers films, and 6 Underground. Before making features, he worked in music videos and directed famous Got Milk? commercials. He also co-founded the production company Platinum Dunes.

• Roland Emmerich — Roland Emmerich is the German-born director associated with big-budget disaster and action films such as Independence Day, Stargate, Godzilla, and The Day After Tomorrow. He also co-founded Centropolis Entertainment with Dean Devlin.
  • Independence Day — Independence Day is Roland Emmerich’s 1996 alien-invasion blockbuster starring Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Pullman. Its signature clues include the White House destruction, President Whitmore’s speech, and the line “Welcome to Earth!”

• Wachowski Brothers — The Wachowski Brothers are the filmmaking pair Andy and Larry Wachowski, better known for writing and directing action and science-fiction films. The clues point to the duo behind Bound and later The Matrix.

• Zack Snyder — Zack Snyder is a stylistic action director known for 300, Sucker Punch, and his remake of Dawn of the Dead. His work also includes the 2017 short Snow Steam Iron and the planned The Fountainhead adaptation through The Stone Quarry.

• Shane Carruth
  • Primer — Primer is Shane Carruth’s 2004 science-fiction film about two engineers who accidentally build a box that reverses the flow of time. Its knotty plot includes business schemes, temporal loops, and increasingly unstable side effects from the device.

• The Wizard — The Wizard is a 1989 film about a video-game savant named Jimmy Woods who travels to a tournament called Video Armageddon. Its best-known setup involves Nintendo, the Power Glove, and a final showdown with Super Mario Bros. 3.

• Todd Field

  • In the Bedroom — Todd Field’s film centers on a Maine family dealing with the death of their son Frank and the unraveling of their relationships after a summer affair.

  • Tár

    • Lydia Tár — Lydia Tár is the fictional conductor played by Cate Blanchett in Todd Field’s 2022 film Tár. The character is associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, Mahler’s Fifth, and a public collapse after accusations about her past.
• Abdellatif Kechiche — Abdellatif Kechiche is a Tunisian-French filmmaker best known for Blue Is the Warmest Colour. The film won the Palme d’Or in an unusual shared award with its lead actresses Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux.
  • Blue is the Warmest Colour — Blue Is the Warmest Colour is Abdellatif Kechiche’s film about the romance between two young women, played by Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos. It won the 2013 Palme d’Or, with both lead actresses sharing the prize alongside the director.
• Emerald Fennell
  • Promising Young Woman — Promising Young Woman is Emerald Fennell’s 2020 thriller about Cassie, played by Carey Mulligan, who seeks revenge after her friend Nina’s assault and suicide. Its trailers use a dark cover of Britney Spears’s “Toxic,” matching the film’s tense tone.

• Miranda July — An American filmmaker, writer, and performance artist known for surreal, offbeat comedies and experiments with form. Her work spans film, fiction, performance, and interactive projects; she directed Me and You and Everyone We Know, The Future, and Kajillionaire, created Learning to Love You More and the app Somebody, and also appears as an actress in other projects.

• Jane Campion — New Zealand film director best known for The Piano. She became the first woman to win the Palme d’Or for that film and later won Best Director for The Power of the Dog. Her other films include Bright Star, An Angel at My Table, and an adaptation of The Portrait of a Lady.

  • The Piano — The Piano is Jane Campion’s film about Ada, a mute woman sold into marriage in colonial New Zealand. It follows her attachment to the title instrument and features Harvey Keitel and Holly Hunter in the lead roles.

  • The Power of the Dog — The Power of the Dog is Jane Campion’s 2021 Western about a cruel Montana rancher played by Benedict Cumberbatch. It follows Peter, a sensitive boy mocked for his lisp, and includes the film’s eerie buried violence and coded intimacy.

• Jane Schoenbrun
  • I Saw the TV Glow — I Saw the TV Glow is a 2024 Jane Schoenbrun film about Owen and Maddy, two fans of the late-night show The Pink Opaque. The movie has been read as a trans allegory and was described by its director as concerning the moment a person recognizes a mismatch between gender identity and assigned gender. It is part of Schoenbrun’s proposed Screen Trilogy.
• Justine Triet
  • Anatomy of a Fall — Anatomy of a Fall is Justine Triet’s 2023 courtroom drama about a woman tried for her husband’s death. The film centers on Sandra Hüller as Sandra Voyter and won the Palme d’Or after a story built around a suspicious recording, a blind son, and a disputed accident.
• Taika Waititi — Taika Waititi is the New Zealand-born filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter known for Jojo Rabbit, Next Goal Wins, and Thor: Ragnarok. He also co-created Reservation Dogs and starred in and co-directed What We Do in the Shadows with Jemaine Clement.
  • Thor: Ragnarok — Thor: Ragnarok is the 2017 Marvel sequel directed by Taika Waititi and starring Chris Hemsworth as Thor. The film sends Thor and Hulk into a cosmic apocalypse story built around the destruction of Asgard.

• Tamra Davis — Tamra Davis is an American film director known for music videos and films such as Guncrazy, CB4, and Billy Madison. She is also associated with the Beastie Boys through her marriage to Mike D and was later known for directing Britney Spears’s Crossroads.

• Tina Fey
  • Mean Girls — Mean Girls is the 2004 teen comedy written by Tina Fey and starring Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron, who gets drawn into the Plastics at North Shore High. It centers on Regina George, the Burn Book, Spring Fling, and the line about the limit not existing; the story later inspired a musical adaptation.

• To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before — To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a 2018 Netflix teen romantic comedy based on Jenny Han’s novel. It follows Lara Jean Covey as her secret love letters are sent out, leading to a ski-trip hot-tub scene with Peter Kavinsky and a widely discussed kiss.

• Todd Haynes

  • Far From Heaven — Far From Heaven is Todd Haynes’s 2002 melodrama inspired by Douglas Sirk’s 1950s films. It centers on Cathy Whitaker in suburban Connecticut, whose marriage unravels amid her husband’s homosexuality and her friendship with Raymond Deagan.

  • I’m Not There — I’m Not There is Todd Haynes’s 2007 Bob Dylan biopic that presents Dylan through multiple avatars rather than a single straightforward portrait. Its cast includes Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and Christian Bale in different Dylan-inspired roles.

  • Safe — Safe is a 1995 Todd Haynes film centered on Carol White, a California housewife played by Julianne Moore. The film follows her struggle with mysterious environmental sensitivity and her stay at the cult-like Wrenwood Center.

• Velvet Goldmine — Velvet Goldmine is Todd Haynes’s glam-rock film about fame, identity, and the 1970s music scene. Starring Ewan McGregor and Christian Bale, it loosely echoes the career mythology of David Bowie.

• Andrea Arnold — Andrea Arnold is an English director known for intimate, working-class dramas such as Fish Tank, Wuthering Heights, and American Honey. Her films often use naturalistic performance and striking visual strategies, including the 4:3 aspect ratio and scoreless or music-driven sequences.

• Chloé Zhao — Chinese-American filmmaker who won the Best Director Oscar for Nomadland, becoming the first woman of color to do so. Her films also include The Rider, a Western about Brady Jandreau and his horse Apollo, and Songs My Brother Taught Me.

• Thirteen Days — Thirteen Days is a 2000 film about the Kennedy administration during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Starring Bruce Greenwood, Dylan Baker, and Steven Culp, it focuses on the tense internal deliberations over the standoff.

• Baz Luhrmann — An Australian film director known for a flamboyant visual style and his “Red Curtain” style/trilogy. His films include Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet with Claire Danes, Moulin Rouge!, The Great Gatsby, and Elvis; his work also includes the TV series The Get Down.

• Bennett Miller
  • Foxcatcher — Foxcatcher is Bennett Miller’s 2014 drama about the unstable wrestling patron John du Pont and the Schultz brothers. The film centers on Olympic-style training, money, and murder, and is named for du Pont’s wrestling estate in Pennsylvania.

• District 9 — District 9 is a 2009 science-fiction film set in Johannesburg, where alien “prawns” are confined to a segregated district. It follows Wikus van de Merwe’s transformation after contact with alien fluid and is often read as an apartheid allegory.

• K-19: The Widowmaker — K-19: The Widowmaker is a film about a Soviet nuclear submarine suffering a reactor leak during the Cold War. It was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and stars Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson.

• Kelly Reichardt — Kelly Reichardt is an American filmmaker known for spare, patient Westerns and road movies set in the Pacific Northwest. Her films include River of Grass, Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff, Certain Women, and First Cow.

• Abel Ferrara — Abel Ferrara is a filmmaker known for gritty New York crime films such as King of New York and Bad Lieutenant. His work also includes Ms. 45, Driller Killer, and other provocative films that made him a cult figure.
  • Bad Lieutenant — Bad Lieutenant is a crime drama about a corrupt, drug-addicted police officer, originally starring Harvey Keitel and later remade in 2009. The title character’s gambling losses, police misconduct, and explicit style are recurring talking points around the film.
• Australian filmmakers
  • George Miller — George Miller is the Australian filmmaker behind the Mad Max series, as well as Happy Feet, Babe: Pig in the City, and Lorenzo’s Oil. He trained as a doctor before becoming known for action and animation filmmaking. The same name also belongs to the psychologist who proposed the “magical number seven, plus or minus two” for short-term memory. In quizbowl, the director and the psychologist are usually separated by context rather than by name alone.
• Otto Preminger — Otto Preminger was a German-born Hollywood director known for elegant, controversial films that challenged the Hays Code. He directed Laura, The Man with the Golden Arm, and Advise & Consent, and his title sequences are often associated with Saul Bass.

  • Anatomy of a Murder — Anatomy of a Murder is Otto Preminger’s 1959 courtroom drama about a defense lawyer handling a murder case in Michigan. It is remembered for its frank sexual language, Saul Bass’s title sequence, and Duke Ellington’s jazz score.

  • Carmen Jones — Carmen Jones is Otto Preminger’s 1954 film adaptation of the Bizet story, transplanted to a World War II-era American setting. Dorothy Dandridge starred in the title role, with singing dubbed for the leads.

• Barry Levinson — Barry Levinson is the Baltimore filmmaker behind Diner, Avalon, Tin Men, Good Morning, Vietnam, Rain Man, and Wag the Dog. His work often draws on his native city and spans both film directing and television.

  • Liberty Heights — Liberty Heights is a 1999 film by Barry Levinson about prejudice in post-World War II Baltimore. It stars Joe Mantegna and Bebe Neuwirth.

  • Tin Men — Tin Men is Barry Levinson’s 1987 comedy about two feuding aluminum-siding salesmen. The film stars Danny DeVito and Richard Dreyfuss and turns a minor collision into an escalating rivalry.

  • Bugsy — Bugsy is the 1991 film about gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Warren Beatty. It also features Mickey Cohen and dramatizes the rise of Las Vegas-era organized crime.

  • Good Morning, Vietnam — Good Morning, Vietnam is the 1987 film in which Robin Williams plays Adrian Cronauer, a rebellious Armed Forces Radio disc jockey in Saigon. It also features Lt. Steve Hauk as a foil and earned Williams an Oscar nomination.

  • Rain Man — The 1988 film centers on Charlie Babbitt, a selfish car dealer who discovers that his estranged brother Raymond is an autistic savant. Barry Levinson directed it, Dustin Hoffman played Raymond, and Hans Zimmer’s score was his first Hollywood film music. Hoffman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role, and it became one of his best-known performances.

    • Raymond Babbitt — Raymond Babbitt, also called Rain Man, is the autistic savant played by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man. He is defined by obsessive routines, rapid counting ability, and a fixation on The People’s Court and Who’s on First?.
• Barry Sonnenfeld — Barry Sonnenfeld is a director and former cinematographer who worked with the Coen brothers before directing films like Get Shorty. He began his career shooting pornography after graduating from NYU and later became known for stylized Hollywood comedies.
  • Big Trouble — Big Trouble is the Dave Barry novel adapted into Barry Sonnenfeld’s comedy film about a suitcase bomb and several Miami residents. The movie’s release was delayed after September 11 because of its bomb-on-a-plane plot.
• James L. Brooks

  • Broadcast News — Broadcast News is James L. Brooks’s 1987 film about television reporting, starring William Hurt, Holly Hunter, and Albert Brooks. It follows the competitive world of network news and became one of Brooks’s best-known movies.

  • How Do You Know — How Do You Know is a 2010 James L. Brooks romantic comedy about a love triangle involving a softball player and a baseball pitcher. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, and Paul Rudd, and is often remembered as one of Brooks’s weaker late films.

  • I’ll Do Anything — I’ll Do Anything is a 1994 James L. Brooks film starring Nick Nolte, Julie Kavner, Albert Brooks, and Tracey Ullman. It was originally planned as a musical with songs by Prince and Carole King, but most of that material was cut after poor test screenings. The finished film focuses on Hollywood frustration and failed ambition.

• James Whale — James Whale was a British film director known for early horror classics such as Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man. He also directed The Old Dark House and later died by drowning in his swimming pool after living with his lover Pierre Foegel.
  • Frankenstein
    • Bride of Frankenstein — The Bride of Frankenstein is the woman created as a mate for Frankenstein’s monster in the 1935 film and later horror fiction. Elsa Lanchester’s iconic portrayal and the image of the beehive hairstyle are central to the character’s recognition.
      • The Bride of Frankenstein — Bride of Frankenstein is James Whale’s 1935 sequel to Frankenstein, featuring Elsa Lanchester as the title figure with the lightning-streaked hair. The film follows Dr. Pretorius’s attempt to create a mate for the Monster after the events of the earlier film.
• Ralph Bakshi — Ralph Bakshi is an animator and director known for adult-oriented films such as Fritz the Cat and American Pop. He also made the first attempt to film The Lord of the Rings with a mix of live action and animation.

  • Fritz the Cat — Fritz the Cat is Ralph Bakshi’s 1972 animated film based on Robert Crumb’s comic character. It was the first animated feature to receive an X rating in the United States and follows the title cat through a satirical, sexually explicit New York underground.

  • Cool World — Cool World is Ralph Bakshi’s live-action and animated hybrid film about a cartoon universe inhabited by Holli Would. It features Gabriel Byrne and Brad Pitt and is often described as a chaotic attempt to imitate Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

• Renny Harlin — Renny Harlin is a Finnish action director known for high-octane studio films such as Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, and The Long Kiss Goodnight. He was born Lauri Harjola, and he was also married to actress Geena Davis.
  • Cutthroat Island — Cutthroat Island is a 1995 pirate adventure film directed by Renny Harlin and starring Geena Davis. It is notorious as a major box-office bomb, making it a classic answer for film flops and Renny Harlin’s marriage to Davis.

• Rob Marshall — Rob Marshall is a film and stage director best known in these clues for directing Chicago. He also directed Memoirs of a Geisha.

• Robert Aldrich
  • What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? — What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is the 1962 Robert Aldrich psychological thriller starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. It centers on the grotesque feud between two former performers, with the title character torturing her crippled sister Blanche in a decaying Hollywood mansion.
• Robert Benton
  • Places in the Heart — Places in the Heart is a 1984 film whose reputation is strongly tied to Sally Field’s famous Oscar acceptance speech. The film follows widow Edna Spalding as she tries to save her Texas farm during the Great Depression.
• Robert Rossen
  • The Hustler — The Hustler is Robert Rossen’s 1961 pool drama starring Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson and Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats. It is remembered for its bleak look at professional pool and for the heroine’s suicide note written in lipstick on a mirror.
• Robert Wise — Robert Wise was a film director and editor whose credits included editing Citizen Kane and directing The Set-Up, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Andromeda Strain, The Hindenburg, Two Flags West, and The Haunting.
  • The Day the Earth Stood Still — The Day the Earth Stood Still is the 1951 science-fiction film in which the robot Gort responds to the warning “klaatu barada nikto.” Starring Michael Rennie as Klaatu and Patricia Neal as Helen Benson, it centers on an alien visitor whose power display in Washington, D.C. gives the film its title.

    • Gort — Gort is the towering robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still, remembered for enforcing the orders of the alien visitor Klaatu. In the film he can melt weapons and barriers with a powerful beam, and he is stopped only by the command phrase “Klaatu Barada Nikto.” He was also linked to Harry Bates’s story Farewell to the Master and the earlier name Gnut.

    • Klaatu — Klaatu is the alien protagonist of The Day the Earth Stood Still, where he uses the alias Mr. Carpenter while warning humanity about nuclear danger. He is associated with the robot Gort and was originally a character from Harry Bates’s story “Farewell to the Master.”

    • Klaatu barada nikto — The famous three-word command associated with the robot Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still; it is the alien phrase spoken to stop Gort from destroying the Earth. It has been repeatedly referenced in later works, including Men in Black and Army of Darkness.

• Ron Howard — American actor and director who played Richie Cunningham on Happy Days after beginning as a child actor in roles on Dennis the Menace and The Twilight Zone. He later became a filmmaker and directed Apollo 13, Solo, A Beautiful Mind, Thirteen Lives, and The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years; he also narrated Arrested Development.

  • EdTV — EdTV is a 1999 comedy film starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Its story of a man turned into a television spectacle drew comparisons to The Truman Show.

  • Frost/Nixon — Frost/Nixon is Ron Howard’s film dramatizing the 1977 televised interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon. It centers on the aftermath of Watergate and the effort to get Nixon to confront his scandal publicly.

• Sam Fuller — Sam Fuller was an American filmmaker known for hard-edged crime and war films with sharp, skeptical dialogue. His credits include Pickup at 42nd Street and Underworld U.S.A., and Quentin Tarantino acknowledged him in the end credits of Jackie Brown.

• Sam Mendes — Sam Mendes is the English filmmaker who directed American Beauty and 1917. He also collaborated repeatedly with cinematographer Roger Deakins on films including Jarhead and 1917.

  • Road to Perdition — Road to Perdition is the Sam Mendes crime film starring Tom Hanks as Michael Sullivan, a mob enforcer on the run with his son. Its supporting cast includes Paul Newman as John Rooney and Jude Law as an assassin, and the title refers to a path toward destruction.

  • American Beauty — American Beauty is the 1999 film about Lester Burnham’s suburban midlife crisis, filmed and scored around the image of a drifting plastic bag. It stars Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Mena Suvari, and Wes Bentley.

  • Jarhead — Jarhead is Sam Mendes’s film adaptation of Anthony Swofford’s memoir about Marines in the Gulf War. It follows Swofford’s service and training in Saudi Arabia, and includes the famous scorpion scene.

• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus — The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is the 2009 Terry Gilliam fantasy film that became Heath Ledger’s final screen appearance. After Ledger’s death, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell helped complete his role, and the story centers on a theater troupe leader who has made a deal with the devil.

• The Whales of August — The Whales of August is the 1987 film in which Bette Davis and Lillian Gish play elderly sisters on a Maine island. It focuses on the sisters’ long cohabitation and the strain caused by deciding whether to give up the family home.

• Theatre of Blood — Theatre of Blood is a 1973 horror-comedy in which Vincent Price plays actor Edward Lionheart, who murders critics in Shakespearean fashion. Its revenge plot involves a series of grotesque deaths staged against drama critics who had panned his performances.

• Vondie Curtis-Hall
  • Gridlock’d — Gridlock’d is a 1997 film starring Tim Roth and Tupac Shakur as drug users trying to enter rehabilitation. It was directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall and includes cameo appearances by him and John Sayles.
• American film directors
  • Alan J. Pakula — Alan J. Pakula was an American film producer and director who helped produce To Kill a Mockingbird and Fear Strikes Out before directing films such as Klute and All the President’s Men. His later work included The Pelican Brief and The Devil’s Own, and his final film came before his death in a car accident.
    • All the President’s Men — All the President’s Men is the film adaptation of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s Watergate book, with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman playing the reporters. Alan J. Pakula directed it as the final film in his paranoia trilogy.
  • Cecil Blount DeMille — American film director associated with large-scale biblical and historical epics. He directed The Ten Commandments in both 1923 and 1956, and his films also included The Squaw Man, The Buccaneer, The Greatest Show on Earth, Samson and Delilah, The Sign of the Cross, and Manslaughter. He helped found an early Hollywood film company with Samuel Goldwyn and made a cameo in Sunset Boulevard.
    • The Greatest Show on Earth — The Greatest Show on Earth is Cecil B. DeMille’s circus film, notable for winning Best Picture and featuring performers such as Charlton Heston, Jimmy Stewart, Betty Hutton, and Cornel Wilde. Its plot centers on the romantic and professional drama of life under the big top.
  • Darren Aronofsky — Darren Aronofsky is the American director of Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, and Black Swan. His films are known for rapid editing, circular match cuts, and intense psychological obsession. He frequently makes stylized, body-and-mind focused dramas about addiction, ambition, and breakdown.

    • Black Swan — Black Swan is Darren Aronofsky’s psychological horror film about a dancer named Nina. The phrase also refers to a highly improbable event and to Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s book The Black Swan.

    • Requiem for a Dream — Requiem for a Dream is Darren Aronofsky’s film adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr.’s novel about addiction, exploitation, and self-destruction. It follows Sara Goldfarb, Harry, Marion, and Tyrone as their lives unravel under drugs and desperation.

    • The Wrestler — The Wrestler is a Darren Aronofsky film about Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a damaged professional wrestler played by Mickey Rourke. It also features Marisa Tomei and a comeback match against his old rival, “The Ayatollah.”

    • The Fountain — The Fountain is the title used by several works, including a Charles Morgan novel, a Rebecca West novel, and a Darren Aronofsky film. In quizbowl, it can also refer to Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author, where a child dies inside a fountain.

  • David O. Russell — David O. Russell is a film director known for American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook, and The Fighter. He also directed I Heart Huckabees and has been widely associated with a public on-set meltdown involving Lily Tomlin.

    • American Hustle — American Hustle is the 2013 crime film based on the FBI’s ABSCAM investigation. Its ensemble cast includes Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Jennifer Lawrence.

    • Flirting With Disaster — Flirting with Disaster is a 1996 David O. Russell comedy about a man who travels to find his birth parents after being adopted. The film stars Ben Stiller, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Lily Tomlin, and Alan Alda, and it centers on the awkward search for his biological family.

    • Silver Linings Playbook — Silver Linings Playbook is a 2012 film about two mentally unwell people who train for a dance competition after making a bet to win back money for a restaurant plan. Starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, it is adapted from Matthew Quick’s novel and includes the now-famous line about reaching back when life reaches out.

    • The Fighter — The Fighter is the 2010 boxing film about Micky Ward and his half-brother Dicky Eklund, played by Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. It follows Ward’s rise toward a welterweight title shot while dealing with family conflict, addiction, and the guidance of his mother and trainer.

  • Edward Zwick — Edward Zwick is an American film director known for Blood Diamond, Legends of the Fall, Glory, and The Last Samurai.

    • Blood Diamond — Blood Diamond is a 2006 film set amid Sierra Leone’s civil war and the trade in conflict diamonds. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Danny Archer, a Rhodesian gunrunner who smuggles the title gems.

    • Defiance — Defiance is an Edward Zwick film about Jewish resistance fighters opposing the Nazis in occupied Europe. It stars Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber as members of a partisan group in wartime Belarus and Poland.

    • Legends of the Fall — Legends of the Fall is the 1994 Edward Zwick film starring Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, and Aidan Quinn. Set around World War I, it follows the Ludlow family in Montana and is remembered for its tragic sibling arc and sweeping western tone.

    • The Last Samurai — The Last Samurai is the 2003 Edward Zwick film starring Tom Cruise as an American drawn into Japan’s Meiji-era conflicts. It prominently features Katsumoto, a feudal Japanese lord played by Ken Watanabe, and is associated with samurai and ninja imagery.

  • Hughes Brothers — The Hughes Brothers are Albert and Allen Hughes, the filmmaking siblings who co-directed Menace II Society and Dead Presidents. They also worked on music videos and later features such as From Hell and American Pimp.

  • John Carpenter — John Carpenter is an American director known for horror and science-fiction films such as Halloween, The Thing, Escape from New York, and Big Trouble in Little China. His films often pair stylized action with sharp synthesizer scores and bleak genre humor.

    • Assault on Precinct 13 — Assault on Precinct 13 is a John Carpenter thriller about people trapped in a besieged police station. Its 2005 remake stars Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne, while the original centers on the title precinct under siege.

    • Big Trouble in Little China — Big Trouble in Little China is the action-comedy starring Kurt Russell as Jack Burton and centered on Lo Pan in Chinatown. Clues commonly mention Wang, Egg, the kidnapped fiancée, and the underground battle beneath the city.

    • Dark Star — Dark Star is the 1974 science-fiction spoof directed by John Carpenter. It features a crew stranded on a derelict spaceship with a talking bomb and a beach-ball-like alien.

    • Escape from New York — Escape from New York is John Carpenter’s 1981 sci-fi action film about Snake Plissken rescuing the President from a penal island in Manhattan. It became one of Carpenter’s signature movies and later spawned a sequel set in Los Angeles.
      • Snake Plissken — Snake Plissken is the eyepatch-wearing antihero played by Kurt Russell in Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. He is a cult-action character associated with tough-guy one-liners and prison-island escapades.

    • Ghosts of Mars — Ghosts of Mars is a 2001 horror film directed by John Carpenter. It follows a police unit on Mars fighting possessed colonists, with Natasha Henstridge and Ice Cube among the cast.

    • The Thing — The Thing is the 1982 John Carpenter horror film about an Antarctic research station infiltrated by a shapeshifting alien. The title is also the name of Marvel’s orange rock-skinned hero, Ben Grimm, known for shouting ‘It’s clobberin’ time!’

    • They Live — They Live is a John Carpenter film about John Nada, who finds that special sunglasses reveal hidden commands like OBEY and MARRY AND REPRODUCE beneath advertising and public messaging. Its cult status also comes from the famous line about chewing bubble gum and kicking ass, and from its satirical take on alien control and ideology.

    • Halloween
      • Michael Myers — Michael Myers is the masked slasher from the Halloween franchise, usually called “the Shape” or the boogeyman. His iconic white mask, originally based on William Shatner’s face, became one of horror’s most recognizable images.
  • John Hughes — John Hughes was the prolific 1980s American filmmaker behind Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and Home Alone. His movies defined a generation of teen comedy and suburban coming-of-age storytelling.

    • 16 Candles — John Hughes’s 1984 teen comedy about Samantha Baker, whose family forgets her birthday because of her sister’s wedding. It features Long Duk Dong, Ted, and Jake, and ends with Samantha finally getting the birthday cake she wanted.

    • Baby’s Day Out — Baby’s Day Out is the 1994 John Hughes comedy about the kidnapped infant Bink Cotwell, whose abductors are played by Joe Mantegna, Joe Pantoliano, and Brian Haley. The film follows the baby’s chaotic adventure through the city after the kidnapping fails.

    • Ferris Bueller’s Day Off — Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is John Hughes’s 1986 teen comedy about a high school senior who skips school, fakes illness, and spends the day with Cameron and Sloane. Its best-known scenes include the Chicago parade lip-sync to “Twist and Shout,” the stolen Ferrari, and Principal Rooney’s futile pursuit. The film also features Jeanie’s encounter with a drug dealer and the restaurant scam in which Ferris poses as Abe Froman, the Sausage King of Chicago. Other recurring clues are the attendance scene, Charlie Sheen’s cameo, and Cameron’s family Ferrari crashing through the glass wall.

      • Cameron Frye — Cameron Frye is Ferris Bueller’s anxious best friend in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the hypochondriac who wears a Red Wings jersey and is obsessed with his father’s pristine 1961 Ferrari. He wrecks that Ferrari near the end of the film and is played by Alan Ruck.

      • Ferris Bueller — Ferris Bueller is the high-school prankster played by Matthew Broderick in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He skips school with Cameron and Sloane, lip-syncs to “Danke Schoen” and “Twist and Shout,” and repeatedly evades Principal Rooney. The character became a comic symbol of 1980s teen freedom and swagger.

      • Abe Froman — Abe Froman is the fictional “Sausage King of Chicago” impersonated by Ferris Bueller. The name is a running gag tied to Sloane Peterson’s description of the supposedly wealthy restaurant reservation holder.

    • She’s Having a Baby — She’s Having a Baby is a John Hughes film about a young married couple trying to start a family. The movie includes cameo appearances by Ferris Bueller and characters from The Great Outdoors.

    • Shermer — Shermer is the fictional Illinois town used as the setting for several John Hughes films. It is associated with the worlds of The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and Weird Science.

    • The Breakfast Club — The Breakfast Club is John Hughes’s 1985 film about five teenagers from different cliques who spend Saturday detention together. Its characters include the brain, athlete, basket case, princess, and criminal, and it ends with the familiar fist-raising shot set to “Don’t You Forget About Me.”

    • Weird Science — Weird Science is the John Hughes teen comedy about two nerds who use a computer to create their dream woman. It is remembered for Anthony Michael Hall, Kelly LeBrock, Bill Paxton as Chet, and the Oingo Boingo title song.

    • Curly Sue — Curly Sue is a 1991 comedy directed by John Hughes and one of his final films. It stars Jim Belushi as a homeless scam artist and Alisan Porter as the young girl who travels with him.

    • Planes, Trains and Automobiles — Planes, Trains and Automobiles is John Hughes’s 1987 road comedy about Steve Martin’s attempt to get home for Thanksgiving. John Candy plays the shower curtain ring salesman who becomes his unlikely travel companion.
  • John Singleton — John Singleton was the director and writer of Boyz n the Hood and became the youngest person nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. He is also associated with films like Poetic Justice, Higher Learning, Rosewood, and Shaft. A common clue for him is that he often cast hip-hop artists and became the first African American nominated for Best Director. He is also tied to later television work such as Luke Cage.
    • Boyz n the Hood — Boyz n the Hood is John Singleton’s 1991 South Central Los Angeles drama about violence, family, and the effects of gang life. It features Doughboy and Ricky, the line “Y’all wanna see a dead body?”, and marked Ice Cube’s breakout acting role.
  • King Vidor — King Vidor was a major American film director whose work ranged from silent epics like The Big Parade to later films such as The Fountainhead and Duel in the Sun. He also had a long career that included a version of War and Peace and contribution to The Wizard of Oz.
    • The Big Parade — The Big Parade is the 1925 King Vidor silent film about an American volunteer in World War I who falls in love with a Frenchwoman and is wounded at the front. It was the biggest-grossing silent film and starred John Gilbert.

  • Martin Campbell — Martin Campbell is a film director known for action and spy thrillers such as GoldenEye, Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro, and Vertical Limit. His work includes several major James Bond entries and other high-profile studio films.

  • Richard Donner — Richard Donner directed Superman, The Omen, The Goonies, and the Lethal Weapon films. He was also the original director of Superman II before Richard Lester replaced him.

    • The Goonies — The Goonies is the 1985 adventure film about a group of kids from Astoria who search for pirate treasure and encounter Sloth and the Fratellis. Quizbowl clues often mention the song “Good Enough,” the motto “Goonies never say die,” and the film’s many treasure-map and continuity details.

    • The Omen — The Omen is the 1976 horror film about an ambassador who discovers that his son Damien is the Antichrist. Quizbowl clues often mention Jerry Goldsmith’s score, the cursed production, and the sequels The Final Conflict, The Awakening, and 666.

      • Damien: Omen II — Damien: Omen II is the 1978 sequel to The Omen and continues the story of Damien Thorn. It was directed by Don Taylor after creative changes and is a horror film centered on the ominous rise of the Antichrist child.
  • Richard Linklater — American Texas filmmaker and director known for Dazed and Confused, the Before trilogy beginning with Before Sunrise, Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly, and Boyhood. His films are noted for conversational, reflective dialogue, long-span projects, and revisiting characters over many years.
    • Before trilogy
      • Before — Before is the shared first word in Richard Linklater’s romance trilogy of Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight. The films follow Jesse and Céline across three installments set nine years apart.

    • Everybody Wants Some!! — Everybody Wants Some!! is Richard Linklater’s 2016 ensemble comedy about a 1980 Texas college baseball team. Set as a loose spiritual successor to Dazed and Confused, it follows freshmen players through a rowdy preseason weekend.

    • Before Sunrise — Before Sunrise is Richard Linklater’s 1995 film about Jesse and Céline, two strangers who spend a night wandering Vienna and talking. The film is remembered for its record-store scene, the Ferris wheel kiss, and the promise that the pair will meet again in six months.

  • Robert Altman — American film director associated with ensemble-driven films and overlapping dialogue. His work includes M*A*S*H, Nashville, The Long Goodbye, California Split, A Wedding, Short Cuts, The Player, and Gosford Park; his debut feature was The Delinquents.

  • Ryan Coogler — Ryan Coogler is an American film director who made Fruitvale Station and went on to direct Creed, Black Panther, and Sinners. His films have featured Michael B. Jordan, and Ludwig Göransson has scored all of his feature films.
    • Fruitvale Station — Fruitvale Station is Ryan Coogler’s film about the final day and death of Oscar Grant at the Oakland BART station of the same name. It stars Michael B. Jordan and focuses on the routine details that preceded the shooting.
  • Todd Phillips — Todd Phillips is a film director and screenwriter known for the comedies Road Trip, Old School, and School for Scoundrels. Before his feature films, he made documentaries such as Hated and Frat House and directed commercials starring Tom Green.
    • Road Trip — Road Trip is Todd Phillips’s 2000 sex comedy about a college voyage, with Tom Green in a leading role. The film also features Breckin Meyer, Seann William Scott, Fred Ward, and a strange assortment of cameo and voice roles, including Jimmy Kimmel as Corky the Dog.
  • Elaine May — Elaine May is an American comic writer, director, and actor who became known as Mike Nichols’s comedy partner. Her films include A New Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey and Nicky, and the infamous Ishtar. She also wrote the screenplays for The Birdcage and Primary Colors and is often clued through her sharp, improvisatory comedy style.
    • The Heartbreak Kid — The Heartbreak Kid is a title shared by several films, including the Elaine May comedy about a honeymooner named Eddie who becomes infatuated with another woman. The title was later reused for a remake starring Ben Stiller, and it also names an Australian film and television series set at Hartley High.

  • Patty Jenkins — Patty Jenkins is an American film director best known for Wonder Woman. She also directed Monster, which won Charlize Theron an Oscar, and was once involved in a pitch that became Thor: The Dark World.

  • Penny Marshall — Penny Marshall began as a television actress before moving into directing with Jumpin’ Jack Flash. She is best known for directing Big, Awakenings, and A League of Their Own, and for being the sister of Garry Marshall.
    • A League of Their Own — A League of Their Own is Penny Marshall’s 1992 film about the Rockford Peaches, an all-women team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. It stars Geena Davis and Tom Hanks, and the line “there’s no crying in baseball” is one of its best-known clues.
  • William Castle — William Castle was a horror filmmaker and producer known for elaborate gimmicks meant to scare theater audiences. His films include House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler, 13 Ghosts, Mr. Sardonicus, and Macabre.
    • The Tingler — William Castle’s The Tingler is a 1959 horror film starring Vincent Price as a pathologist who discovers a creature that feeds on fear and lives along the spine. Castle heightened the gimmick with seat buzzers meant to jolt audiences during the screening.
• American filmmakers
  • Mike Judge — Mike Judge created Beavis and Butt-Head and King of the Hill, and also directed Office Space. His work often centers on cynical workplace and suburban satire, with Beavis’s Cornholio persona among his best-known creations.
    • Idiocracy — Idiocracy is Mike Judge’s 2006 satire about a profoundly dumb future America in which ordinary people have replaced the competent. Luke Wilson plays Joe Bauers, who wakes in 2505 and is mistaken for a genius while navigating a corporate, anti-intellectual dystopia.
      • Brawndo — Brawndo is the fictional neon-green sports drink in Idiocracy, where it is marketed as a source of electrolytes and as the thing “plants crave.” In the film it has replaced ordinary drinks and becomes a running joke about corporate stupidity.
    • Office Space — Office Space is Mike Judge’s 1999 workplace satire about Peter Gibbons, an Initech employee who drifts into rebellion against mind-numbing corporate life. It features Chotchkie’s flair-filled service culture, TPS reports, Swingline’s red stapler, and the memorable printer-destruction sequence set to rap music. The film’s humor centers on Peter’s blunt confession that he does very little actual work and on the awkward consultants known as the Bobs. Jennifer Aniston appears as Chotchkie’s waitress Joanna.

      • Initech — Initech is the cubicle-bound software company in Office Space, home to Peter Gibbons, Milton Waddams, and Bill Lumbergh. Its disgruntled employees target the company’s accounting system with a money-skimming virus, while Milton’s building fire helps bring the story to its comic climax.

      • Peter Gibbons — Peter Gibbons is the disaffected office worker at the center of Office Space, whose hypnosis destroys his work ethic and leaves him indifferent to Initech. He is surrounded by coworkers like Michael Bolton and tormented by his boss, Lumbergh, while plotting an embezzlement scheme with his friends.

      • TPS reports — TPS reports are the fictional office documents from Office Space that employees are repeatedly told to submit with cover sheets. The phrase became a shorthand joke for pointless workplace bureaucracy.

• Amy Heckerling — Amy Heckerling is the American film director behind Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Look Who’s Talking, Clueless, and Johnny Dangerously. She also directed National Lampoon’s European Vacation and later the comedy Loser.
  • Fast Times at Ridgemont High — Fast Times at Ridgemont High is Amy Heckerling’s 1982 coming-of-age film based on Cameron Crowe’s undercover reporting. It is remembered for Sean Penn’s Jeff Spicoli, Phoebe Cates’s pool scene, and a series of teen-culture catchphrases and small comic set pieces.
    • Jeff Spicoli — Jeff Spicoli is the laid-back stoner surfer in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, played by Sean Penn. He is remembered for his pizza obsession, beach-bum attitude, and clashes with Mr. Hand.
• Andy Sidaris — Andy Sidaris was a filmmaker who directed action B-movies such as Picasso Trigger, Savage Beach, and Day of the Warrior. He also pioneered the ‘honey shot’ while working in television coverage for ABC.
  • Malibu Express — Malibu Express is a 1985 Andy Sidaris film mixing espionage, softcore comedy, and action. It features Darby Hinton, Sybil Danning, and Lori Sutton in a plot involving Russian spies and was made for low-budget cable-style exploitation viewing.
• Blake Edwards — Blake Edwards directed Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Days of Wine and Roses, Victor/Victoria, and several Pink Panther films. He was married to Julie Andrews and also made films such as Darling Lili and The Tamarind Seed.
  • Breakfast at Tiffany’s
    • Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard — Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard played the female and male leads in the film adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Hepburn starred as Holly Golightly opposite Peppard as Paul Varjak.
• Bo Burnham
  • Eighth Grade — Eighth Grade is Bo Burnham’s 2018 directorial debut about Kayla’s last week of middle school. The film follows her awkward social-media life, anxiety, and attempts to fit in before starting high school.
• Bob Clark

  • Porky’s — Porky’s is an early-1980s teen sex comedy set around a Florida nightclub and a boys’ and girls’ locker-room prank war. It stars characters like Pee Wee and Tommy and was directed by Bob Clark, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1982.

  • Rhinestone — Rhinestone is the 1984 comedy in which Dolly Parton tries to transform Sylvester Stallone into a country singer. The film is remembered as an especially odd pairing and as one of Stallone’s early critical misfires.

• Bob Fosse
  • All That Jazz — All That Jazz is Bob Fosse’s semi-autobiographical film about the Broadway director Joe Gideon, who tries to juggle a show, a movie, and his own declining health. It is remembered for Joe’s morning routine of Vivaldi and pills, the song-and-dance fantasy “Bye Bye Life,” and the body-bag ending.
• Bob Rafelson
  • Five Easy Pieces — Five Easy Pieces is Bob Rafelson’s 1970 film starring Jack Nicholson as Bobby Dupea, an oil-rig worker and former piano prodigy. The film is remembered for its diner scene in which Bobby orders a chicken sandwich with almost everything left off.
• Dennis Dugan
  • You Don’t Mess With the Zohan — You Don’t Mess With the Zohan is a 2008 comedy starring Adam Sandler as an Israeli commando who fakes his death and goes to New York to become a hairstylist. It is known for absurd action-comedy set pieces and supporting turns by Chris Rock, Charlotte Rae, and Dave Matthews.
• Dennis Potter
  • The Singing Detective — Dennis Potter’s The Singing Detective centers on psoriatic author Philip Marlow, who is bedridden while imagining himself inside a Chandleresque detective story. The work was later remade as a 2003 film starring Robert Downey Jr. and Mel Gibson.

• Dirty Pretty Things — Dirty Pretty Things is a Stephen Frears film about immigrant life in London and the city’s organ-smuggling underground. It centers on Okwe and Senay and stars Audrey Tautou in a story involving the Baltic Hotel and Senor Juan.

• Dirty Work — Dirty Work is a 1998 comedy directed by Bob Saget and starring Norm Macdonald and Artie Lange. The plot follows two men who start a revenge-for-hire business in order to pay for a heart transplant.

• Disorderlies — Disorderlies is a 1987 comedy film starring the rap group the Fat Boys as bumbling caregivers. Its plot centers on rich old man Albert Dennison, whose nephew hires them in hopes of speeding up his inheritance.

• Farrelly — The Farrelly brothers are the filmmaking duo behind Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary. They are known for co-directing broad comedies together.
  • Say It Isn’t So — Say It Isn’t So is a Farrelly Brothers comedy starring Chris Klein and Heather Graham as a couple who come to suspect they are siblings. The film includes a scene involving a banner that should have said ‘I’m your brother; marry me,’ and a supporting role for Orlando Jones.
• Film directors and screenwriters
  • Nora Ephron — Nora Ephron was an American writer-director known for romantic comedies and essays with a sharp, comic voice. Her credits include When Harry Met Sally…, Sleepless in Seattle, and Julie & Julia, and she also wrote the play Lucky Guy.

    • Julie and Julia — Julie and Julia is the Nora Ephron film that intercuts the lives of Julia Child and blogger Julie Powell. It follows their parallel cooking projects and the personal growth that comes with mastering French recipes.

    • Sleepless in Seattle — Sleepless in Seattle is Nora Ephron’s romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Inspired by An Affair to Remember, it centers on Annie Reed and Sam Baldwin, whose son Jonah calls a radio talk show to help find his father a new partner.

    • You’ve Got Mail — You’ve Got Mail is Nora Ephron’s 1998 romantic comedy about anonymous email pen pals who are actually feuding bookstore owners. The film stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and adapts the basic premise of The Shop Around the Corner for the AOL era.

• Gore Verbinski — Gore Verbinski is an American film director who made Mousehunt and The Weather Man. He is especially known for directing The Ring and the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films.

• Gregg Araki — Gregg Araki is the Japanese-American filmmaker associated with New Queer Cinema and the Teen Apocalypse trilogy. His films include Mysterious Skin, Nowhere, The Doom Generation, and The Living End. Clues may reference queer punk aesthetics, shoegaze soundtracks, alien abduction imagery, or Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s role in Mysterious Skin.

• Gus Van Sant — Gus Van Sant is an American film director known for Mala Noche, Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, and Milk. His work also includes the 1998 remake of Psycho and Elephant, and he has written fiction and made other artistic projects beyond film.

  • Drugstore Cowboy — Drugstore Cowboy is a film associated with Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch. It centers on a group of drug users and thieves moving through the American West.

  • Good Will Hunting — Good Will Hunting is the 1997 film about a gifted janitor at MIT who solves a difficult math problem and is helped by therapist Sean Maguire. Written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, it also stars Robin Williams and includes the famous “how do you like them apples?” line.
    • Will Hunting — Will Hunting is the title character played by Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting, the self-taught genius from South Boston. He is coached by Sean Maguire, played by Robin Williams, and ultimately leaves for Stanford after being urged to “see about a girl.”
  • My Own Private Idaho — My Own Private Idaho is Gus Van Sant’s modern reworking of Henry IV that stars River Phoenix as a street hustler and Keanu Reeves as a bisexual drifter. The film follows two hustlers on a journey of self-discovery and became one of Phoenix’s signature roles.
• Ivan Reitman — Ivan Reitman was a Canadian director and producer born in what is now Slovakia, known for mainstream comedies and supernatural hits. His films include Ghostbusters, Twins, Dave, Junior, and Evolution, and he also worked early on with David Cronenberg. His early career brought controversy in Canada, including trouble under decency laws and an obscene adaptation of My Secret Life.
  • Ghostbusters — Ghostbusters is the 1984 supernatural comedy about a team of paranormal investigators in New York City. Its title song asks “who you gonna call?”, and the film features characters like Venkman, Spengler, Stantz, Gozer, and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.

    • Dr. Peter Venkman — Dr. Peter Venkman is one of the Ghostbusters, played by Bill Murray. He is best known for his wisecracking style and the line responding to a divine query with a confident yes.

    • Ghostbusters II — Ghostbusters II is the 1989 sequel in which the team reunites in New York to face Vigo the Carpathian and psychomagnotheric slime. It features the Statue of Liberty climax and the song “On Our Own” from the soundtrack.

    • Ghostbusters: Answer the Call — Ghostbusters: Answer the Call is the 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters featuring a female team led by characters like Erin, Abby, Holtzmann, and Patty. The film includes the familiar proton packs and New York City paranormal mayhem, along with a firehouse headquarters and a Chinese restaurant office.

  • Legal Eagles — Legal Eagles is a 1986 comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Robert Redford, Debra Winger, and Daryl Hannah. It follows Manhattan assistant district attorney Tom Logan as he helps defend a client accused of art theft.
• Jerry Zucker
  • Rat Race — Rat Race is the 2001 Jerry Zucker comedy about a frantic treasure hunt for two million dollars. It riffs on It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and follows a cast of eccentric contestants through absurd set pieces.
• Jim Jarmusch — Jim Jarmusch is an American independent film director known for Stranger Than Paradise, Down by Law, Mystery Train, Dead Man, and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. His films often feature deadpan humor, stylized music choices, and ensemble casts that include musicians such as Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, and RZA.

  • Broken Flowers — Broken Flowers is a 2005 Jim Jarmusch film starring Bill Murray as Don Johnston. After receiving a mysterious pink letter, he travels across the country to look for a son he did not know he had.

  • Coffee and Cigarettes — Coffee and Cigarettes is a Jim Jarmusch film built from a series of loosely connected vignettes, each centered on coffee and cigarettes. Its cast includes Bill Murray, the White Stripes, Tom Waits, Cate Blanchett, and members of the Wu-Tang Clan, among others.

  • Dead Man — Dead Man is a Jim Jarmusch western starring Johnny Depp as William Blake, who drifts through a violent frontier world with the help of Nobody. The film is known for its bleak black-and-white imagery and its ending, in which the title character floats away by boat.

  • Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai — Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is Jim Jarmusch’s 1999 film about a hitman played by Forest Whitaker. The title character lives by a samurai code, communicates by carrier pigeon, and is drawn into violence after protecting a young girl.

  • Mystery Train — Mystery Train is a 1989 film made of three vignettes about foreigners in Memphis, including one featuring the ghost of Elvis. It shares its title with the Junior Parker song later recorded by Elvis Presley.

• Jim Jarmusch films
  • Down by Law — Down by Law is a 1986 Jim Jarmusch film about three convicts, played by John Lurie, Tom Waits, and Roberto Benigni, who escape from Orleans Parish Prison. The film follows the trio’s strange road-trip friendship through Louisiana.
• Joe Dante — Joe Dante is a film director associated with creature comedies like Gremlins and with horror-comedy entries such as The Howling and Piranha. His films often feature Dick Miller, and he also worked on The Twilight Zone Movie.
  • Gremlins
    • Gremlins 2: The New Batch — Gremlins 2: The New Batch is the 1990 sequel in which Gizmo and the Mogwai cause chaos inside a Manhattan office tower. The film is known for its cartoon interludes, outlandish villain gremlins, and a finale involving bizarre parody set pieces.
• Joe Johnston
  • Honey, I Shrunk the Kids — Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is a 1989 comedy about an inventor whose children are accidentally miniaturized. Directed by Joe Johnston and starring Rick Moranis, it launched a franchise that later included sequels and a television adaptation.
• Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
  • The Hudsucker Proxy — The Coen brothers’ 1994 comic film about a naïve businessman, Norville Barnes, who is manipulated by corporate schemers in a stock-manipulation plot. Tim Robbins plays Barnes and Paul Newman plays Sidney Mussburger; Amy Archer and a hula-hoop invention are central to the story, and a reporter investigates the company’s ruse before the plan unravels.
    • Hudsucker Industries — Hudsucker Industries is the corporation at the center of the Coen brothers film The Hudsucker Proxy. In the movie, a mailroom clerk is pushed into the presidency as part of a stock-manipulation scheme involving Sidney Mussburger and the invention of the hula hoop.
• Joel Schumacher — Joel Schumacher was a filmmaker and former costume designer who wrote or directed a string of big studio movies including St. Elmo’s Fire, The Lost Boys, and The Incredible Shrinking Woman. He is especially remembered in quizbowl for directing Batman Forever and Batman and Robin.
  • Falling Down — Falling Down is the 1993 Joel Schumacher film in which Michael Douglas plays William Foster, a man who snaps while trapped in everyday frustrations across Los Angeles. It became notable for its portrait of urban rage and for Robert Duvall’s role as the detective pursuing him.
• John G. Avildsen — John G. Avildsen directed Rocky and later The Karate Kid and Lean on Me. He won the Academy Award for directing Rocky and is also associated with Rocky V.

  • Save the Tiger — Save the Tiger is a 1973 John G. Avildsen film about Harry Stoner, a desperate clothing executive trying to keep his company alive while his own life falls apart. The film features a failed insurance-fire plot, wartime flashbacks, and Jack Lemmon’s Oscar-winning performance as the lead.

  • Rocky — Rocky is the 1976 boxing drama starring Sylvester Stallone as a small-time fighter who gets a title shot against Apollo Creed. It is famous for the “Gonna Fly Now” training montage and for the sequence of films inspired by the Rocky character.

    • Adrianna Pennino-Balboa — Adrianna Pennino-Balboa is Rocky Balboa’s wife, played by Talia Shire. She is the shy pet-shop worker who later appears in the Rocky films and is visited at her grave in the final installment.

    • Apollo Creed — Apollo Creed is the flashy heavyweight champion from the Rocky films, played by Carl Weathers. He fights Rocky Balboa, later becomes his ally and trainer, and is killed in an exhibition bout with Ivan Drago.

    • Rocky Balboa — Rocky Balboa is the underdog boxer from the Rocky films, married to Adrian and trained by Mickey Goldmill. His most famous scenes include running the Philadelphia museum steps, fighting Apollo Creed, and later serving as a mentor in Creed.

    • Rocky III — Rocky III is the 1982 installment of the Rocky series in which Clubber Lang defeats Rocky before Apollo Creed helps train him again. The film is also known for introducing the song “Eye of the Tiger” and for Hulk Hogan’s brief appearance as Thunderlips.

• John Landis — American film director known for Animal House, The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London, Coming to America, and Trading Places; he also directed Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video. He is associated with the running gag “See You Next Wednesday” and the Twilight Zone: The Movie helicopter accident and ensuing lawsuit involving Vic Morrow and two child actors.
  • National Lampoon’s Animal House — The 1978 National Lampoon college comedy directed by John Landis, set at Faber College. It follows the chaotic exploits of Delta Tau Chi at Faber College and features John Belushi as Bluto, including the famous toga-party antics. It was co-written from Chris Miller’s Dartmouth experiences and also involves the Omega Theta Pi and Delta Tau Chi fraternities under double secret probation. The film features Otis Day and the Knights and ends with the Homecoming Parade and the Deathmobile.

    • Delta House, Omega House — In Animal House, Delta House is the fraternity home of Otter and Flounder, while Omega House is the rival house that leads to their expulsion. The pair of Greek-letter houses became a shorthand reference to the film’s college-hijinks setting.

    • Doug Niedermeyer — Doug Niedermeyer is the rigid ROTC cadet commander and self-styled enemy of Animal House’s misfits, often treated as a parody of authoritarian conservatism. He was played by Mark Metcalf, who later echoed the same bullying persona in Twisted Sister videos.

    • Omega House — Omega House is the rival fraternity house in Animal House. It is the house opposed to Delta House at Faber College.

  • See You Next Wednesday — “See You Next Wednesday” is a John Landis trademark phrase that appears in many of his films. It is often used as a fictional movie title or billboard gag, including appearances in The Blues Brothers and Innocent Blood.

  • Three Amigos! — The 1986 comedy film stars Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short as silent-film actors mistaken for real heroes. It is set around the fictional village of Santa Poco and is remembered for lines like “What exactly is a plethora?” and “You shot the invisible swordsman!”

  • Trading Places — Trading Places is the 1983 comedy in which Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd become pawns in a market-manipulation bet by wealthy brokers. Its plot turns on frozen orange juice futures, class reversal, and the inclusion of Jamie Lee Curtis as part of the film’s con-artist-and-broker chaos.
• John Samuel Waters, Jr. — American cult filmmaker associated with camp cinema and outrage comedy. His films include Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Polyester, and Serial Mom; Polyester used the scratch-and-sniff Odorama gimmick. His work centers on outrageous camp, drag performance, and his recurring troupe of actors, the Dreamlanders, including Divine and Mink Stole. He is closely associated with Baltimore, his native city, which recurs as a setting and aesthetic marker.

  • Cecil B. Demented — Cecil B. Demented is a John Waters film about a guerrilla filmmaking group that kidnaps actress Honey Whitlock. The film satirizes Hollywood by forcing its star to appear in an underground production.

  • Cry-Baby — Cry-Baby is a John Waters teen musical comedy starring Johnny Depp as a teardrop-tattooed greaser. The film parodies rock-and-roll melodramas and follows the title character through jail, romance, and rebellion.

  • Hairspray — Hairspray is John Waters’s film about Tracy Turnblad and the integration of a Baltimore dance show, later adapted into a Broadway musical. The musical and film versions are known for songs like ‘Run and Tell That’ and for casting choices such as John Travolta as Edna Turnblad.

  • Pink Flamingos — Pink Flamingos is John Waters’s infamous 1972 cult film, famous for its transgressive humor and for Divine’s notorious final act. The movie presents two families competing for the title of the filthiest people alive and became a landmark of underground cinema.

• Jonathan Demme — Jonathan Demme was the filmmaker behind Melvin and Howard, Philadelphia, and The Silence of the Lambs. He also made concert and performance films such as Stop Making Sense and Swimming to Cambodia, and began in the Roger Corman school before moving into mainstream Hollywood.

  • Rachel Getting Married — Rachel Getting Married is a 2008 film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Anne Hathaway and Rosemarie DeWitt. It centers on family dysfunction around a wedding and is notable for live-recorded music and a rehab-returning sister named Kym.

  • Stop Making Sense — Stop Making Sense is the 1984 Jonathan Demme concert film by Talking Heads, later tied to the soundtrack live album of the same name. Its best-known imagery includes David Byrne’s oversized suit and the opening entrance with a boombox before the band builds its performance.

  • The Silence of the Lambs — Jonathan Demme’s 1991 thriller about FBI trainee Clarice Starling, the imprisoned Hannibal Lecter, and Buffalo Bill. It won the Academy Awards’ “big five,” including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress for Jodie Foster, and Best Screenplay.

• Judd Apatow — Judd Apatow directed films such as Knocked Up, This Is 40, Trainwreck, and Superbad. He is also known for Freaks and Geeks and for his frequent collaborations with comedy actors like Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann.

• Just Go with It — Just Go with It is a 2011 romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, and Brooklyn Decker. It is a remake of Cactus Flower and follows a plastic surgeon who pretends to be married.

• Just Married — Just Married is the 2003 comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy as newlyweds whose honeymoon quickly falls apart. The film is centered on the escalating chaos of their trip and marital mismatch.

• King Ralph — King Ralph is a comedy about an American who unexpectedly becomes king of England after a royal succession mishap.

• Kinsey — Kinsey is the biographical film about sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, played by Liam Neeson. It centers on the author of Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and on his work studying human sexuality.

• Kogonada — Kogonada is the Korean-American filmmaker and video essayist known for Columbus and After Yang. His work is marked by careful visual composition, especially Ozu-like pillow shots and references to directors such as Kubrick and Bresson.

• Larry and Andy Wachowski — Larry and Andy Wachowski are the sibling filmmakers later known for directing The Matrix trilogy. Early clues about them often mention their comic-book interests, carpentry work, and the films Bound and Assassins.

• Larry Clark

  • Bully — Bully is a term for a cruel person, though it once had a more approving sense in older English. It is also the title of Larry Clark’s film about the murder of Bobby Kent by his friends.

  • Kids — Kids is Larry Clark’s 1995 film about aimless, drug-using Manhattan teenagers. It is closely associated with Harmony Korine’s screenplay and Chloe Sevigny’s breakout role as a girl who learns she has HIV.

• Larry Cohen
  • Original Gangstas — Original Gangstas is a 1996 Larry Cohen film about reclaiming the streets of Gary, Indiana after a drive-by killing sparks a revenge plot. The cast includes Fred Williamson alongside Jim Brown, Pam Grier, Richard Roundtree, Ron O’Neal, and Oscar Brown Jr.
• Lee Daniels
  • Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire — Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire is Lee Daniels’s 2009 film adaptation of Sapphire’s novel Push. The film stars Gabourey Sidibe as Claireece Precious Jones and features Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, and Lenny Kravitz in supporting roles.
• Lee Isaac Chung
  • Minari — Minari is Lee Isaac Chung’s 2020 film about a Korean immigrant family trying to build a farm in rural Arkansas. It won Youn Yuh-jung an Academy Award for playing the grandmother, and the title refers to a hardy water plant.
• Mel Brooks — American filmmaker and comedian known for broad parodies and for The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, and History of the World. He was born Melvin Kaminsky and may appear in performer credits under that name.
  • Blazing Saddles

    • Hedley Lamarr — Hedley Lamarr is the corrupt state attorney general in Blazing Saddles, the Harvey Korman villain whose name parodies actress Hedy Lamarr. He schemes to build a railroad through Rock Ridge and is one of the film’s most quoted comic figures.

    • Rock Ridge — Rock Ridge is the fictional frontier town in Mel Brooks’s Blazing Saddles. It is famous for being populated by many citizens surnamed Johnson and for resisting Hedley Lamarr’s railroad scheme.

    • The Waco Kid — The Waco Kid is the burned-out gunslinger from Blazing Saddles, the Mel Brooks film in which Gene Wilder plays the character. He is an old Texas outlaw remembered as a legendary gunman who once said he had killed more men than Cecil B. DeMille.

  • High Anxiety — High Anxiety is a 1977 Mel Brooks spoof of Alfred Hitchcock films set around the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. Brooks plays Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke, who gets entangled with Nurse Diesel, Arthur Brisbane, and other broad parody characters.

  • History of the World, Part I — History of the World, Part I is Mel Brooks’s 1981 comedy that sends up major eras from the dawn of man to the French Revolution and the Spanish Inquisition. It is remembered for jokes like “It’s good to be the king” and the fake trailer for a nonexistent sequel.

  • Young Frankenstein — Young Frankenstein is Mel Brooks’s black-and-white comedy about the grandson of Victor Frankenstein, who recreates the monster with the help of Igor and Inga. It is known for running gags such as horses whinnying at the name Frau Blücher and for its parody of classic horror films.
• Michael Mann — Michael Mann is an American director known for crime and action films such as Thief, Manhunter, Heat, Collateral, and The Insider. He also helped create Miami Vice and later revisited that TV world with a film version of it, while Heat 2 was written with Meg Gardiner as a sequel to one of his movies.

  • Collateral — Collateral is the 2004 Michael Mann film in which a taxi driver is forced to ferry a hitman across Los Angeles. The word also refers to property pledged as security for a loan, especially in secured lending.

  • Manhunter — Manhunter is the Michael Mann film adaptation of Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon, featuring William Petersen as Will Graham and the killer Francis Dollarhyde. The title also refers to an unrelated 1970s television series, but the film clue set identifies the cinematic thriller.

  • The Insider — The Insider is the 1999 film about tobacco-industry whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand and the failed 60 Minutes expose that follows his story. It stars Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, and Crowe’s performance brought him an Academy Award nomination.

• Mike Mills — Mike Mills is an American filmmaker behind Thumbsucker, Beginners, 20th Century Women, and C’mon C’mon. His work often draws on personal family material, including the father coming-out story that inspired Beginners.
  • 20th Century Women — 20th Century Women is Mike Mills’s 2016 film about a teenage boy and the women helping raise him in late-1970s Southern California. It stars Annette Bening and Greta Gerwig, and one of its central plotlines involves a photographer diagnosed with cervical cancer after her mother’s use of DES.
• Mike Myers films
  • The Love Guru — The Love Guru is the 2008 Mike Myers comedy about a hockey player who seeks romantic and spiritual advice from an over-the-top Indian guru. It is notorious for its broad jokes, star cameos, and Razzie-level reception.
• Nancy Meyers
  • The Holiday — The Holiday is the 2006 romantic comedy in which two women swap homes for Christmas and find new relationships abroad. It stars Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, and Jack Black, with a notable cameo by Dustin Hoffman.

• Nicholas Meyer — Nicholas Meyer is an American director and writer best known for directing the second and sixth Star Trek films. He also wrote Sherlock Holmes novels such as The Seven-Per-Cent Solution and The West End Horror, and his film work includes Time After Time and The Day After.

• Nick Cassavetes
  • Alpha Dog — Alpha Dog is a 2006 crime film directed by Nick Cassavetes and based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz. The film centers on a drug dealer named Johnny Truelove who abducts a young boy.
• Oliver Stone — American film director known for Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street, JFK, and W. His films often deal with war, politics, and controversial public figures. He also directed political documentaries such as South of the Border and conducted the Showtime interview series The Putin Interviews.

  • Any Given Sunday — Any Given Sunday is Oliver Stone’s 1999 football film about the Miami Sharks, with Al Pacino as coach Tony D’Amato and Cameron Diaz as the team owner. It centers on Willie Beamen’s rise and features Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J, and Lawrence Taylor.

  • Born on the Fourth of July — Born on the Fourth of July is the Oliver Stone film based on Ron Kovic’s autobiography and centered on his Vietnam War service and later political awakening. It follows Kovic’s return from Vietnam, his time in a veterans hospital, and his eventual turn toward anti-war activism.

  • Heaven and Earth — Heaven and Earth is Oliver Stone’s 1993 Vietnam War film about the life of Le Ly Hayslip. It is presented as the final installment of Stone’s Vietnam trilogy.

  • Platoon — Platoon is Oliver Stone’s 1986 Vietnam War film starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, and Willem Dafoe. It is the first film in Stone’s war trilogy and is remembered for its bleak closing scenes and use of Barber’s Adagio for Strings.

  • Wall Street

    • Gordon Gekko — Gordon Gekko is the ruthless corporate raider from Oliver Stone’s Wall Street films, played by Michael Douglas. He is known for lines like “Greed is good,” for insider trading, and for trying to manipulate Bluestar Airlines and later other corporate deals.

    • Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps — Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is the 2010 sequel to Oliver Stone’s Wall Street. It follows Jacob Moore and Gordon Gekko as they maneuver through finance and revenge after the events of the original film.

  • Natural Born Killers — Natural Born Killers is Oliver Stone’s 1994 film about Mickey and Mallory, whose crimes are sensationalized by the media. The movie is notable for its violent style, Tarantino’s early involvement, and its controversial reception.
• Paul Joseph Schrader — Paul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter, director, filmmaker, and critic known for Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, First Reformed, and Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. His critical work helped define transcendental style in film, linking directors such as Bresson, Dreyer, and Ozu. His films often explore guilt, repression, and spiritual crisis.
  • First Reformed — First Reformed is a film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Ethan Hawke as Reverend Ernst Toller. Set in upstate New York, it follows a Protestant minister whose faith and conscience are under severe strain.
• Penelope Spheeris — Penelope Spheeris is an American film director known for chronicling punk culture and for later comedy films. Her credits include The Decline of Western Civilization, Suburbia, Hollywood Vice Squad, and Wayne’s World.
  • The Decline of Western Civilization — The Decline of Western Civilization is Penelope Spheeris’s documentary series about Los Angeles punk and metal scenes. Its films include interviews and concert footage, with later entries covering the metal years and the city’s underground subcultures.
• Peter Bogdanovich — Peter Bogdanovich directed The Last Picture Show, Targets, and other films associated with his early collaboration with Polly Platt. He also wrote about Orson Welles and appears in discussion of The Other Side of the Wind as an actor and filmmaker.

  • The Cat’s Meow — This Peter Bogdanovich film dramatizes the 1924 murder aboard William Randolph Hearst’s yacht. Kirsten Dunst, Jennifer Tilly, Cary Elwes, and Charlie Chaplin all appear in The Cat’s Meow.

  • The Last Picture Show — The Last Picture Show is Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 film adaptation of Larry McMurtry’s novel set in a small Texas town. It stars Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, and Ben Johnson, and won supporting acting Oscars for its secondary roles.

  • Paper Moon — Paper Moon is a 1973 black-and-white film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Ryan and Tatum O’Neal as a father-daughter con team. Tatum O’Neal won an Oscar for the film, which was later adapted into a short-lived television series.

• Phil Alden Robinson — Phil Alden Robinson is an American film director and screenwriter known for directing Field of Dreams, Sneakers, and The Sum of All Fears. He also wrote All of Me and received an Oscar nomination for adapting a W. P. Kinsella novel.

• Philip Kaufman — Philip Kaufman is an American film director known for The Right Stuff, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Henry & June, and Quills. He also directed the 1978 remake referenced in the clues.
  • Henry and June — Henry and June is Philip Kaufman’s film adaptation of Anaïs Nin’s account of her affair with Henry Miller. It was the first film to receive the NC-17 rating.

• Savage Steve Holland — “Savage” Steve Holland is a filmmaker and animator known for Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer, and How I Got Into College. He also created Eek! the Cat and designed the Whammy used on Press Your Luck.

• Stardust Memories — Stardust Memories is a 1980 Woody Allen film about filmmaker Sandy Bates, who reassesses his work and personal life at a retrospective festival. The film is often described as an homage to 8 1/2 and takes its title from a Hoagy Carmichael song on the soundtrack.

• Stephen Soderbergh
  • The Limey — The Limey is Stephen Soderbergh’s 1999 film about Wilson, an English ex-con who comes to California after the death of his daughter Jenny. It stars Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda, and it is known for its fragmented flashbacks and its Big Sur climax.
• Steven Soderbergh — American film director known for Sex, Lies, and Videotape, King of the Hill, Kafka, the Ocean’s trilogy, Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Solaris, and Logan Lucky. His work often mixes commercial filmmaking with tightly structured, ensemble-driven stories.

  • Full Frontal — Full Frontal is a low-budget Steven Soderbergh film with a film-within-a-film structure and a cast that includes Julia Roberts, David Duchovny, and David Hyde Pierce. It was shot in just 18 days with handheld camerawork.

  • Magic Mike — Magic Mike is the 2012 film about male strippers starring Channing Tatum, with Matthew McConaughey as Dallas and a plot involving a furniture business and a sorority-party ecstasy mix-up. The title also names the stage persona used by Michael Lane at the Xquisite club.

  • Schizopolis — Schizopolis is Steven Soderbergh’s 1996 film, in which he wrote, directed, starred, and even credited himself under a pseudonym for cinematography. The film follows Fletcher Munson and a cult-like movement called Eventualism.

  • Sex, Lies and Videotape — Sex, Lies, and Videotape is Steven Soderbergh’s 1989 debut feature and the film that won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. It stars James Spader and Andie MacDowell in a story about sexual repression, confession, and videotaped intimacy.

• The Purple Rose of Cairo — The Purple Rose of Cairo is a 1985 Woody Allen film about Cecilia, a Depression-era New Jersey waitress whose favorite movie character, Tom Baxter, steps off the screen into her life. Jeff Daniels and Mia Farrow star, and the film plays with the contrast between the fictional Baxter and the actor Gil Shepherd who portrays him.

• Three Men and a Baby — Three Men and a Baby is the 1987 comedy about three bachelors who must care for an infant left on their doorstep. Directed by Leonard Nimoy, it stars Steve Guttenberg, Tom Selleck, and Ted Danson and inspired a famous urban legend about a child supposedly visible in the background.

• Threesome — _Threesome_ is a 1994 film about three college students sharing a dorm suite and becoming entangled in a romantic triangle. It stars Lara Flynn Boyle, Stephen Baldwin, and Josh Charles.

• Time Bandits — Time Bandits is a 1981 Terry Gilliam film in which a boy joins a band of dwarves who steal a map from the Supreme Being and travel through time. The film features comic appearances by Ian Holm as Napoleon, John Cleese as Robin Hood, and Sean Connery as Agamemnon.

• Tom Shadyac

  • Ace Ventura: Pet Detective — Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is the Jim Carrey comedy in which Ace searches for the Miami Dolphins’ missing mascot, Snowflake. The character is an eccentric pet detective whose antics became a signature early role for Carrey.

  • Evan Almighty — Evan Almighty is the sequel to Bruce Almighty, starring Steve Carell as a congressman called by God to build an ark. It features Morgan Freeman as God and is known for its expensive production and poor box-office return.

  • Liar Liar — Liar Liar is a 1997 comedy in which Jim Carrey plays lawyer Fletcher Reede, who is magically unable to lie. The film centers on a birthday wish from his son and is associated with Tom Shadyac’s direction.

• Whit Stillman — Whit Stillman is the writer-director of Metropolitan, Barcelona, and The Last Days of Disco, and is known for metropolitan comedies such as Metropolitan and The Last Days of Disco.

  • Whit Stillman’s trilogy — Whit Stillman’s “doomed bourgeoisie in love” trilogy consists of Metropolitan, Barcelona, and The Last Days of Disco.

  • Metropolitan — Metropolitan is Whit Stillman’s debut film, set amid New York debutante-season preppies and centered on Tom Townsend, Audrey Rouget, and their circle. It is a satirical portrait of the urban haute bourgeoisie and introduced recurring Stillman actors such as Taylor Nichols and Chris Eigeman.

• Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker
  • High School High — High School High is a Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker comedy about an idealistic teacher at an inner-city high school. It stars John Lovitz and Tia Carrere and satirizes school melodramas such as Dangerous Minds.
• John McTiernan — John McTiernan is the director of action films including Die Hard, Die Hard: With a Vengeance, Last Action Hero, and The Hunt for Red October. He is especially associated with the early Die Hard films and other high-profile Hollywood action blockbusters. His filmography spans both large-scale thrillers and franchise entries with strong genre followings.
  • Predator
    • Prey — Prey is the 2022 Predator franchise film set among a Comanche tribe in 1719. It follows a young hunter facing an alien threat, with scenes involving a bear, a bog, and the mistaken appearance of a Thunderbird.
• Actor-directors

  • George (Timothy) Clooney — George Clooney is an actor and director known for playing Danny Ocean in the Ocean’s Eleven films and for directing Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. He also voiced the title fox in Fantastic Mr. Fox and won an Academy Award for Syriana.

  • Robert Townsend — Robert Townsend is an American actor, writer, and director best known for Hollywood Shuffle. He also starred in and directed The Meteor Man and later worked on projects such as B*A*P*S and The Parent ‘Hood.

• Adam Driver — Adam Driver is an American actor known for Frances Ha, Lincoln, Silence, Paterson, Marriage Story, and the Star Wars sequel trilogy. He portrayed Kylo Ren and appeared as a divorcing theater director in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story. He left the Marines before studying at Juilliard.

• Adam McKay — Adam McKay is a former Saturday Night Live head writer and the co-creator of Eastbound & Down. He directed comedies such as Anchorman and Step Brothers, and later made political satires including Vice and Don’t Look Up.
  • The Big Short — The Big Short is Adam McKay’s film adaptation of Michael Lewis’s book about the housing bubble and the 2008 financial crisis. It follows investors who bet against mortgage-backed securities, with cameos and explanations that make the collapse unusually self-aware and comic. The film stars Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt, and includes a memorable bubble-bath explanation by Margot Robbie.
• Adam Resnick
  • Cabin Boy — Cabin Boy is the 1994 Chris Elliott comedy about a spoiled rich kid whose luxury cruise plans collapse when he ends up on a fishing boat. Its absurd nautical setting, the Queen Catherine, and the line about “clean pipes” are among its recurring clues.
• Adam Sandler films
  • Jack and Jill — Jack and Jill is the 2011 Adam Sandler comedy in which he plays the title siblings. The film became infamous for its broad slapstick and for winning a record number of Razzies.

• Adventureland — Adventureland is a namesake comedy about a recent college graduate working at a rundown amusement park, as well as the title of a Disney-themed area. Clues point to both a theme park in Polk County and the Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland with attractions such as Jungle Cruise and Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room.

• Aftersun — Aftersun is Charlotte Wells’s 2022 feature debut about a woman remembering a childhood holiday with her father at a Turkish resort. It blends home-video imagery with live-action scenes and uses brief, fragmented flash cuts to evoke memory and loss.

• Agent Cody Banks — Agent Cody Banks is a teen spy film in which Frankie Muniz plays a boy recruited by the CIA. The plot involves a scientist threatening world domination with nanobots.

• Airheads — Airheads is the 1994 comedy in which Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, and Adam Sandler play members of the band the Lone Rangers. They seize a radio station to get their demo played, and the plot turns on their ineffective weapons and a parade of music-industry cameos.

• Antoine Fuqua — Antoine Fuqua is an American film director who began with music videos before moving into features such as The Replacement Killers and Training Day. His filmography also includes Tears of the Sun and King Arthur, and Training Day brought an Oscar-winning performance for Denzel Washington.

• Ben Affleck — Ben Affleck is an American actor and director who rose to prominence through Good Will Hunting and later directed Air. He appeared early in Dazed and Confused and became widely known as one half of the screenwriting duo with Matt Damon.
  • Argo
    • Argo fuck yourself — “Argo fuck yourself” is the recurring obscene pun from the 2012 film Argo. The line is most associated with Lester Siegel, played by Alan Arkin, and plays on the fake film title within the movie’s hostage-crisis plot.

• Brett Ratner — Brett Ratner is a film director known for the Rush Hour films, Money Talks, Red Dragon, and X-Men: The Last Stand. He first made his name directing music videos before moving into features.

• Celine Song
  • Past Lives — Past Lives is Celine Song’s 2023 film about Nora Moon reconnecting in New York with her childhood sweetheart Hae Sung after years apart. The film also follows Nora’s marriage to Arthur, whom she meets at a writers’ retreat in Montauk.

• Greg Mottola — This director made comedies such as Superbad, Paul, and Adventureland. Adventureland drew on his own teenage work at a real amusement park, and he later directed Confess, Fletch.

• Daniels
  • Swiss Army Man — Swiss Army Man is a surreal film about a stranded man who uses a flatulent corpse as a tool and companion. It was the first full-length feature by Daniels and stars Daniel Radcliffe and Paul Dano.
• David Dobkin
  • Wedding Crashers — Wedding Crashers is the 2005 comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as men who crash weddings to meet women. The film features Chazz Reinhold and includes the Maryland football catchphrase about crabcakes and football.
• David Mamet

  • About Last Night — About Last Night is the 1986 film adaptation of David Mamet’s Sexual Perversity in Chicago, starring Rob Lowe and Demi Moore. Its relationship comedy centers on two couples and the advice of James Belushi’s character about dating and commitment.

  • Glengarry Glen Ross
    • Mitch and Murray — Mitch and Murray are the unseen owners of the real-estate company in Glengarry Glen Ross. Their orders are relayed by office manager John Williamson, and their names are invoked by Blake when he claims to be coming from downtown.

  • House of Games — House of Games is David Mamet’s directorial debut, a con artist thriller about a psychologist drawn into a poker scam. It stars Lindsay Crouse and Joe Mantegna and helped establish Mamet’s interest in slick, dialogue-driven deception stories.

  • State and Main — State and Main is a David Mamet film about a movie crew descending on a small Vermont town during production. It stars William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin and is remembered for its satire of filmmaking and its New England setting.

  • The Spanish Prisoner — The Spanish Prisoner is David Mamet’s 1998 confidence-game film about a man whose secret industrial process is stolen and whose trust is manipulated through elaborate deception. Steve Martin appears as the charming con artist at the center of the scheme.
• David Wain
  • Wet Hot American Summer — Wet Hot American Summer is the 2001 cult comedy set on the final day at Camp Firewood. It stars Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Ian Black, and Paul Rudd, and is famous for its absurd camp antics and talking-can-of-vegetables gag.
• Duncan Tucker
  • Transamerica — Transamerica is a 2005 film directed by Duncan Tucker starring Felicity Huffman as Bree, a trans woman on a road trip with her estranged son. The film’s soundtrack includes Dolly Parton’s “Travelin’ Thru.”

• Eli Roth — American horror filmmaker and actor best known for directing Cabin Fever and the Hostel films. He portrayed Donny Donowitz, the “Bear Jew,” in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and also directed the film’s in-universe Nazi propaganda short “Nation’s Pride.” Early in his career he developed the animated series idea Chowdaheads, voiced a lumberjack in Disaster!, and based Cabin Fever on his own illness while training horses in Iceland.

• Frank Darabont — Frank Darabont directed The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Majestic. He also received early writing credits on Stephen King and horror projects before moving into directing.
  • The Shawshank Redemption — The Shawshank Redemption is the 1994 Frank Darabont film about Andy Dufresne and Red in Shawshank prison. It is famous for Andy’s hidden escape tunnel, Red’s narration, and the hoped-for escape to Zihuatanejo. The film adapts a Stephen King novella and features Brooks Hatlen, Warden Norton, and the false identity Randall Stevens.

    • Andy Dufresne — A banker protagonist of The Shawshank Redemption, he is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and imprisoned at Shawshank State Penitentiary. He uses his financial skills to help fellow inmates and the prison staff, becomes associated with Warden Norton’s corruption, and escapes by tunneling out behind posters on his cell wall, including the Rita Hayworth poster. While working under Norton, he later poses as Randall Stephens.

    • Shawshank State Penitentiary — Shawshank State Penitentiary is the prison in The Shawshank Redemption where Andy Dufresne is imprisoned. Its key clues include the rock hammer escape, the poster hiding the tunnel, the Bibleverse in the warden’s office, and the sewage crawl to freedom.

    • rehabilitated — In The Shawshank Redemption, rehabilitated is the word the Parole Board uses to mean ready to rejoin society. Ellis dismisses it as a made-up politician’s word.

  • The Green Mile — The Green Mile is the 1999 prison drama in which Tom Hanks plays a death-row guard in a Louisiana penitentiary. Its central figure is John Coffey, a prisoner with miraculous healing powers, and the film also features Mr. Jingles and James Cromwell as the warden.
    • John Coffey — John Coffey is the gentle giant and inmate from The Green Mile, played by Michael Clarke Duncan. He is remembered for his miraculous healing powers and for the tragic ending of the film.

• I, Tonya — I, Tonya is the 2017 biopic about figure skater Tonya Harding and the attack on Nancy Kerrigan. It stars Margot Robbie as Harding and Allison Janney as her abrasive mother, earning Janney an Oscar.

• Independent filmmakers
  • John Sayles — John Sayles is an American independent filmmaker and writer known for directing Return of the Secaucus 7, Eight Men Out, Passion Fish, and Lone Star. He also wrote novels such as Union Dues and began his screenwriting career with scripts like Piranha and The Howling.

    • Lone Star — Lone Star is John Sayles’s 1996 film about a Texas border sheriff who investigates a decades-old murder tied to his father. Chris Cooper stars as the central lawman in the film, which combines a mystery plot with reflections on family and local history.

    • Matewan — Matewan is John Sayles’s 1987 film about the West Virginia coal miners’ strike and the violent union struggle in the town of the same name. It stars Chris Cooper and James Earl Jones, with David Strathairn as a sympathetic police chief.

    • Sunshine State — Sunshine State is a 2002 John Sayles film about a Florida beach community threatened by development. The cast includes Angela Bassett, Edie Falco, and Timothy Hutton.

    • The Brother from Another Planet — John Sayles’s 1984 film follows an alien slave who crashes in New York City and tries to pass as a mute Black man with unusual feet. It is a science-fiction story about discrimination and outsider identity.

    • Eight Men Out — Eight Men Out is John Sayles’s film about the 1919 Black Sox scandal, with John Cusack as Buck Weaver and D. B. Sweeney as Shoeless Joe Jackson. It also features Charlie Sheen, John Mahoney, Christopher Lloyd, and references to Eddie Cicotte and Kid Gleason.

• Jennifer Lynch
  • Boxing Helena — Boxing Helena is Jennifer Lynch’s infamous 1993 psychological drama about a surgeon who keeps an amputee neighbor captive after a car accident. It is especially remembered for Kim Basinger’s backing out of the title role, which helped make the film notorious.

• Jerry Maguire — Jerry Maguire is the 1996 Cameron Crowe film about a sports agent played by Tom Cruise who writes a blunt memo after an epiphany about his profession. Its most quoted line comes from Rod Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding Jr., who tells the title character to “show me the money.”

• Julia Ducournau
  • Titane — Titane is Julia Ducournau’s 2021 body-horror film, which won the Palme d’Or and features Alexia, a killer who passes as the long-lost son of a firefighter. The film is famous for its car-crash injury, metallic body modification, and deliberately transgressive imagery.
• M. Night Shyamalan — M. Night Shyamalan is a filmmaker known for twist endings in movies such as The Sixth Sense, Signs, and The Village. Other clues include his debut Praying With Anger, his film The Last Airbender, and his brief acting role in Spider-Man 2.

  • The Sixth Sense — The Sixth Sense is M. Night Shyamalan’s 1999 ghost story in which child psychologist Malcolm Crowe helps Cole Sear, a boy who can see dead people. Its ending reveal that Malcolm himself is dead became the film’s signature twist.

  • Unbreakable — Unbreakable is the title of M. Night Shyamalan’s 2000 superhero film about David Dunn and Elijah Price, later retroactively tied to Split and Glass. The word also titles Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the comedy about Kimmy’s escape from a doomsday cult and new life in New York.

• Martin Brest — Martin Brest is a film director known for Beverly Hills Cop, Scent of a Woman, Meet Joe Black, and Midnight Run. He also had acting and assistant work in earlier projects, and the TV version of Scent of a Woman was credited to Alan Smithee after edits.

  • Coming Home — Coming Home is the 1978 film in which Jon Voight plays a paralyzed Vietnam veteran and Jane Fonda plays the woman who falls in love with him. It received nominations in all four major acting categories, with Bruce Dern and Penelope Milford among the nominees.

  • Scent of a Woman — Scent of a Woman is the 1992 Martin Brest film in which Al Pacino plays the blind retired Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade. It won Pacino the Best Actor Oscar and features Chris O’Donnell as his assistant, Charlie Simms.

  • Beverly Hills Cop — Beverly Hills Cop is the Eddie Murphy film in which Detroit detective Axel Foley travels to Los Angeles to investigate his friend’s murder. Clues often mention Serge, Victor Maitland, and the theme song “The Heat Is On.”

• McG — McG is the directing alias of Joseph McGinty Nichol, who made music videos before directing films such as Charlie’s Angels and Terminator Salvation. He also helped create the television series Fastlane and The O.C.

• Meir Zarchi
  • I Spit On Your Grave — I Spit on Your Grave, also known as Day of the Woman, is a notorious rape-revenge film directed by Meir Zarchi. It is infamous for its extreme violence and for the debate it has generated around exploitation cinema.
• Nicolas Winding Refn
  • The Neon Demon — The Neon Demon is a 2016 horror-thriller by Nicolas Winding Refn about a young model, Jesse, whose arrival in Los Angeles draws obsessive attention. It ends with grotesque violence and cannibalistic imagery, including the notorious eyeball scene.
• Noah Baumbach — Noah Baumbach is an American filmmaker known for character-driven dramas such as The Squid and the Whale, Frances Ha, Greenberg, and Marriage Story. His work often centers on awkward family and relationship dynamics, and White Noise closed with an LCD Soundsystem track over its ending credits. He has also collaborated with Wes Anderson on films such as Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

  • Frances Ha — Frances Ha is Noah Baumbach’s black-and-white comedy-drama about a New York dancer who drifts through friendships and apartments. Greta Gerwig stars as Frances, whose shifting relationship with Sophie and romance with Lev anchor the film.

  • The Squid and the Whale — The Squid and the Whale is Noah Baumbach’s 2005 film about a bitter divorce and its impact on two sons. Starring Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney, it is drawn from Baumbach’s own childhood and features Jesse Eisenberg as the older son.

  • Marriage Story — Marriage Story is Noah Baumbach’s 2019 film about the breakup of a marriage between characters played by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. It includes the courtroom work of Laura Dern and Ray Liotta, along with a memorable scene in which the husband punches a wall.

• Paul Haggis — Paul Haggis is a screenwriter, director, and television creator associated with Walker, Texas Ranger, Due South, and EZ Streets. He directed Crash and won Academy Awards for his film work.

• Spike Jonze
  • Richard Koufey — Richard Koufey was the name Spike Jonze used when posing as the director of the Torrance Community Dance Group. The alias is associated with the MTV Video Music Awards performance by the group that appeared in Jonze’s staged dance bit.
• Terry Gilliam — Terry Gilliam is the American-born former Monty Python animator who became a film director. His films include Brazil, Time Bandits, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and 12 Monkeys.

  • Lost in La Mancha — Lost in La Mancha is a documentary about Terry Gilliam’s failed attempt to film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. It records the abandoned production with narration by Jeff Bridges.

  • Twelve Monkeys — Terry Gilliam’s 1995 film follows James Cole as he is sent back in time to investigate a plague that devastates most of humanity. The movie stars Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, draws on La Jetée, and centers on the apparent menace of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys.

  • The Adventures of Baron Munchausen — The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is Terry Gilliam’s 1988 fantasy film starring John Neville as the title nobleman. It follows extravagant tales of moon travel, Turks, and a band of fantastical companions such as Berthold and Gustavus.

• The Kids are All Right — The Kids Are All Right is a 2010 film about a lesbian couple whose children contact their sperm donor father. It mixes family comedy and drama around the arrival of Paul, played by Mark Ruffalo, and was nominated for Best Picture.

• The Wachowskis
  • Jupiter Ascending — Jupiter Ascending is the Wachowskis’ 2015 science-fiction film starring Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, and Eddie Redmayne. Its plot centers on a princess who can control bees and on Caine Wise’s efforts to protect her from Balem Abrasax.

• Wayne Wang — Wayne Wang is a Hong Kong-born American film director associated with Chan Is Missing, Dim Sum, Smoke, and The Joy Luck Club. He is often noted for bridging independent and mainstream cinema, especially in stories about Chinese American life and identity.

• Wes Craven — Wes Craven was the horror director behind The Last House on the Left, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and the Scream series. His films also include New Nightmare, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Music of the Heart, and Swamp Thing.

  • Red Eye — Red Eye is a Wes Craven thriller about a hotel manager on a plane who is threatened by terrorist Jackson Rippner, played by Cillian Murphy. Rachel McAdams stars as the protagonist, whose father’s safety is tied to the plot to move a guest’s room for an assassination.

  • The Hills Have Eyes — Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes is a 1977 horror film about the Carter family being terrorized by the cannibalistic Jupiter clan in the desert. Common clues include the remake’s mutation explanation, the original X rating, and the deaths of characters such as Brenda, Lynne, and Baby Katy.

  • The Serpent and the Rainbow — The Serpent and the Rainbow is a Wes Craven film in which a Harvard anthropologist goes to Haiti to investigate a powder linked to zombie creation. It draws on Wade Davis’s ethnobotanical study of Haitian vodou and the possible roles of tetrodotoxin and datura in zombie-like effects.

  • A Nightmare on Elm Street — A Nightmare on Elm Street is the horror franchise centered on Freddy Krueger, the burned killer who attacks teenagers in their dreams. The series began with the 1984 film that also featured a young Johnny Depp.
    • Freddy Krueger — Freddy Krueger is the dream-stalking killer from A Nightmare on Elm Street and the Nightmare on Elm Street films. He is known for his burned, scarred face, his glove fitted with razor blades, and his revenge against the parents who killed him. He is portrayed by Robert Englund in the original series and by Jackie Earle Haley in a remake, and he terrorizes victims by attacking them in their sleep.
  • Scream
    • Ghostface — Ghostface is the knife-wielding killer from the Scream films. The character is recognized by the white mask and has been voiced by Roger L. Jackson.
  • Scream 3 — Scream 3 is the third film in Wes Craven’s slasher series and is set around the production of a fictional Stab movie. It features Roman Bridger as the killer and includes cameo appearances by figures such as Carrie Fisher.

Directors from Australia, New Zealand, and Canada

• Atom Egoyan — Atom Egoyan is a Canadian filmmaker born in Cairo to Armenian parents, noted for films like Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter. His work also includes Next of Kin, The Adjuster, and Where the Truth Lies, and he married actress Arsinee Khanjian.
  • Where the Truth Lies — Where the Truth Lies is a 2005 film by Atom Egoyan, adapted from Rupert Holmes’s novel. It follows a comedy act played by Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth whose partnership unravels after a young woman is found dead in their hotel room.

• Norman Jewison — Norman Jewison is the Canadian film director behind In the Heat of the Night, The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, Moonstruck, and The Thomas Crown Affair. He also founded the Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies.

• Kyle Edward Ball
  • Skinamarink — Skinamarink is a Canadian experimental horror film by Kyle Edward Ball that takes its title from a children’s song. It centers on two children trapped in a house where doors, a toilet, and other objects mysteriously vanish, creating a slow, minimalist form of dread.

• Lee Tamahori — Lee Tamahori is a New Zealand director of Maori descent who first gained attention with Once Were Warriors. He also directed The Edge, Along Came a Spider, and Die Another Day.

• Peter Jackson — Peter Jackson is the New Zealand filmmaker best known for directing The Lord of the Rings trilogy. His earlier films include the splatter comedy Braindead and the cult horror-comedy Bad Taste, before he returned to New Zealand fantasy filmmaking.

  • Bad Taste — Bad Taste is Peter Jackson’s 1987 horror-comedy about alien invaders who want to turn humans into fast food. The film is notorious for extreme gore, a very high body count, and its infamous vomiting scene.

  • Dead Alive — Dead Alive, released in New Zealand as Braindead, is Peter Jackson’s splatter comedy about a man named Lionel fighting a zombie outbreak. Its finale is especially remembered for the lawnmower massacre.

  • Heavenly Creatures — Heavenly Creatures is Peter Jackson’s film about two teenage girls whose intense fantasy life ends in the murder of one of their mothers. It stars Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey and is based on a true crime case in New Zealand.

  • Meet the Feebles — Meet the Feebles is an irreverent 1989 Peter Jackson film released by Troma. Its cast of grotesque puppets includes Bletch the walrus, Heidi the hippo, and other figures in a parody of show business and depravity.

  • The Lovely Bones — The Lovely Bones is Peter Jackson’s 2009 adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel about Susie Salmon, a murdered teenage girl watching her family from heaven. Its plot centers on Susie’s afterlife, her family’s grief, and the predator Mr. Harvey, played by Stanley Tucci.

• Peter Weir — Peter Weir is the Australian film director of Picnic at Hanging Rock, Gallipoli, Witness, Dead Poets Society, and The Truman Show. His films often move from Australian historical drama to acclaimed Hollywood features, including Green Card and The Mosquito Coast.

  • Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World — Peter Weir’s 2003 film adaptation of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin naval novels stars Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey and Paul Bettany as Stephen Maturin. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, it follows HMS Surprise in pursuit of the French frigate Acheron and is noted for its nautical combat and period music.

  • Dead Poets Society — Dead Poets Society is Peter Weir’s 1989 drama about English teacher John Keating at Welton Academy. The film follows students such as Neil Perry, Todd Anderson, and Charlie Dalton as Keating encourages them to seize the day. Neil’s conflict with his father and eventual suicide are central to the plot, and Keating is blamed when the school’s administration reacts against his teaching.

    • the Dead Poets Society — The Dead Poets Society is the secret literary group in *Dead Poets Society*, the 1989 film centered on Welton Academy and teacher John Keating. Its members meet in a cave, recite poetry, and embrace Keating’s call to “carpe diem.”

    • Welton Academy — Welton Academy is the elite boarding school in Dead Poets Society. It is the setting where John Keating inspires his students to question authority and seize the day.

• Alex Proyas
  • Dark City — Dark City is Alex Proyas’s 1998 neo-noir science-fiction film about John Murdoch, an amnesiac pursued through a city of perpetual night by shape-shifting Strangers. Its dreamlike atmosphere and reality-bending plot center on the mystery of Shell Beach and the altered metropolis.
• Greg McLean
  • Wolf Creek — Wolf Creek is a 2005 Australian horror film directed by Greg McLean. It follows backpackers stalked by the killer Mick Taylor in the outback and draws on the atmosphere of the so-called backpacker murders.
• Jennifer Kent
  • The Babadook — The Babadook is the title creature from Jennifer Kent’s 2014 Australian horror film, where it terrorizes a mother and her son after appearing in a pop-up book. Its unexpected internet afterlife as a Pride Month meme made it especially famous beyond the film itself.
• Denys Arcand
  • Le Déclin de l’empire américain — Le Déclin de l’empire américain is a 1986 Canadian film by Denys Arcand. It follows a group of Montreal history professors, spouses, and graduate students who talk about sex and adultery at a country retreat.

Films by Region and Tradition

Study films through plots, characters, collaborators, and distinctive scenes.

Films by region and tradition

American films

• (500) Days of Summer — (500) Days of Summer is a non-linear romantic comedy about a man obsessed with a co-worker named Summer. Its stylized scenes, references to The Smiths, and focus on one-sided infatuation are common identifying clues.
  • Summer Finn — Summer Finn is the woman Tom Hansen falls for in the film 500 Days of Summer, where his romance is shaped by his idealized expectations and the indie-music references around her. She is played by Zooey Deschanel.

• 10,000 BC — 10,000 BC is a fantasy-adventure film centered on the hunter D’Leh and his struggle against the Pyramid God and the Warlord’s four-legged demons. It also features Camilla Belle in a role that drew comparisons to older sword-and-sandal spectacle.

• 200 Cigarettes — 200 Cigarettes is an ensemble New Year’s Eve comedy set in 1981, following a group of New Yorkers whose stories intersect around a party and a cabbie played by Dave Chappelle. The film features Christina Ricci, Courtney Love, Paul Rudd, Janeane Garofalo, Jay Mohr, and Kate Hudson.

• 2000s action films
  • Hollywood Homicide — Hollywood Homicide is a 2003 action-comedy starring Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett as partners investigating a nightclub shooting and a rapper’s murder.

• 28 Days — 28 Days is a film about Gwen Cummings, a journalist sent to rehab after driving under the influence. Its title refers to the length of her rehab stay, and Viggo Mortensen appears as the pitcher Eddie Boone.

• 3 Ninjas — 3 Ninjas is the martial-arts film franchise about three boys nicknamed Rocky, Colt, and Tum Tum. The series follows Samuel, Jeffrey, and Michael Douglas, who are trained by their grandfather Mori Tanaka.

• 40 Days and 40 Nights — 40 Days and 40 Nights is a romantic comedy about a man who gives up sex for Lent after a breakup. It stars Josh Hartnett and includes Shannyn Sossamon and Vinessa Shaw, with a plot involving a website that protects children from pornography.

• 50 First Dates — 50 First Dates is the Adam Sandler romantic comedy in which Drew Barrymore’s character Lucy Whitmore loses her short-term memory every day. The film is set in Hawaii and includes comic roles for Rob Schneider, Sean Astin, and Dan Aykroyd.

• 8 Mile — 8 Mile is the Detroit-set drama starring Eminem as aspiring rapper Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith. It is best known for Lose Yourself and for the rap battle scenes involving Papa Doc and the Free World crew.

• A Cinderella Story — A Cinderella Story is the Hilary Duff teen romantic comedy that updates the fairy tale with a diner, an online pen pal, and a Halloween dance. Sam Martin falls for Austin Ames, played by Chad Michael Murray, while contending with her cruel stepmother Fiona.

• A Civil Action — A Civil Action is the true-story drama about Jan Schlichtmann’s lawsuit over toxic waste in a Massachusetts town’s water supply. The film adaptation stars John Travolta and earned Robert Duvall an Oscar nomination for Jerome Facher.

• A Ghost Story — A Ghost Story is David Lowery’s film about a man who dies and returns as a ghost, much of it viewed through the white-sheeted figure of Casey Affleck. Rooney Mara also stars as the widow, and the film uses a 4:3 frame to emphasize confinement.

• A Slight Case of Murder — A Slight Case of Murder is a film adaptation of a Donald Westlake novel. It stars William H. Macy as a film critic whose accidental killing sets off blackmail and a police investigation.

• Agnes of God — Agnes of God is a film about a psychiatrist investigating the death of a newborn in a convent. The title character is a novice nun who claims the child was the result of a virgin birth.

• Air Bud — Air Bud is the family sports film about a dog whose owners discover that no rule says a dog cannot play basketball. It launched a long-running series in which the canine star also plays other sports.

• Airport franchise
  • Airport 1975 — Airport 1975 is a disaster film sequel to Airport in which a 747 collides with a small plane and leaves the crew in crisis. The film features Charlton Heston, Karen Black, and a dramatic midair rescue attempt.

• Alex & Emma — This romantic comedy centers on an author with writer’s block and debts who hires a stenographer to help finish a book. The pair fall in love as the project goes forward.

• Alien Nation — Alien Nation is a science-fiction police story about Newcomers, alien refugees who have been forced to assimilate into human society. It follows George Francisco and Matthew Sykes in a future Los Angeles where the aliens’ arrival has transformed everyday life.

• Aliens — Aliens is James Cameron’s action-oriented sequel to Alien, sending Ripley and a squad of space marines to investigate the disappearance of colonists on LV-426. Its memorable characters include Hudson, Bishop, Hicks, and Vasquez.

• Alone in the Dark — Alone in the Dark is the Uwe Boll horror film adaptation loosely based on the video game franchise of the same name. It starred Christian Slater and Tara Reid and was infamous for its poor reception.

• American Gigolo
  • Julian Kaye — Julian Kaye is the title character of American Gigolo, a stylish Los Angeles escort played by Richard Gere. The film centers on his wealthy clients, his Armani wardrobe, and his entanglement in a murder frame-up after falling for a senator’s wife.
• American Pie

  • American Pie Presents: Band Camp — American Pie Presents: Band Camp is the first direct-to-DVD spin-off from the American Pie films. It follows Matt Stifler to band camp, where the franchise’s gross-out sex comedy continues without the original cast’s centerpieces.

  • American Wedding — American Wedding is the third main American Pie film, centering on Jim and Michelle’s wedding and the return of the East Great Falls group. Finch and Stifler both compete for Cadence Flaherty’s attention.

• An Extremely Goofy Movie — An Extremely Goofy Movie is the sequel to A Goofy Movie and follows Max’s college years. Its plot centers on the Gamma Mu Mu fraternity, the X-Games, and Goofy returning to college after losing his job.

• Ant-Man franchise
  • Ant-Man — Ant-Man is the Marvel superhero film centered on Scott Lang, who is recruited by Hank Pym and sent on a heist mission. The movie’s climax features a toy train and other shrinking-and-expanding set pieces. The character is also identified with Hank Pym’s insect-themed technology and the original Ant-Man identity. The clues connect the film to the comics version of the shrinking hero.
• Are We There Yet?
  • Are We Done Yet? — This film stars Ice Cube as Nick, who moves to the suburbs and clashes with John C. McGinley’s character. It is a sequel-in-spirit to suburban-house comedies such as The Money Pit and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.

• Attack of the Killer Tomatoes — Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a cult comedy horror film about homicidal tomatoes and a government conspiracy to seize control of the country. It spawned sequels and a short-lived cartoon, and is remembered for the song “Puberty Love.”

• Austin Powers — Austin Powers is Mike Myers’s parody secret agent, the “International Man of Mystery,” and the title character of the Austin Powers film series. A groovy British superspy, he is frozen by cryogenic suspension and later revived to battle Dr. Evil. The films turn Bond tropes into broad comedy and include Goldmember, which introduces Nigel Powers as Dr. Evil’s father; associated characters include Vanessa Kensington, Foxxy Cleopatra, and Felicity Shagwell.

  • Austin Powers in Goldmember — Austin Powers in Goldmember is the third Austin Powers film, featuring Mike Myers in multiple roles and Beyoncé as Foxxy Cleopatra. It includes Mini-Me, Dr. Evil, and the title villain Goldmember, continuing the series’ parody of spy films.

  • Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me — Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is the 1999 sequel in Mike Myers’s spy parody series. It features cameo appearances and is associated with the song “Beautiful Stranger.”

  • Frau Farbissina — Frau Farbissina is a character in the Austin Powers films and one of Dr. Evil’s chief underlings. She is portrayed as a German militant and is linked in the films to the possibility of being Scott Evil’s mother.

  • Ming Tea — Ming Tea is the fictional rock band associated with Austin Powers and played by real-life musicians including Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet. The group performed songs such as “BBC” during the film’s closing credits.

  • Mustafa — Mustafa is the fez-wearing henchman from the Austin Powers films, played by Will Ferrell, whose bungled thawing of Dr. Evil also leaves Mr. Bigglesworth hairless. He is repeatedly injured yet survives until he is finally finished off, making him one of the series’ more indestructible villains.

  • Vanessa Kensington — Vanessa Kensington is the British operative and love interest who is assigned to bring Austin Powers up to speed on the late twentieth century. She is played by Elizabeth Hurley and ends the series married to Austin.

• Australian films

  • Rabbit-Proof Fence — Rabbit-Proof Fence is the Australian film about three Aboriginal girls who escape from a settlement and walk home across the Outback. The title refers to the fence they follow on their journey, a story tied to the Stolen Generations.

  • The Man from Snowy River — The Man from Snowy River is an Australian film based on Banjo Paterson’s poem about horses and the bush. Kirk Douglas appears in a dual role, and the story follows Jim Craig amid the Brumby mob.

• B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Memphis Belle — The Memphis Belle was a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber that completed 25 missions over Europe in World War II. It became famous both as an aircraft and as the subject of a film about the crew’s final run.
• Bad Boys
  • Bad Boys II — Bad Boys II is the 2003 sequel starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, set around a Miami DEA case and the pursuit of the drug lord Johnny Tapia. Its comic set pieces include the line about a character telling his sister, a DEA agent, that he is reporting her to Mommy.

• Bad Teacher — Bad Teacher is a comedy starring Cameron Diaz as an unscrupulous schoolteacher trying to game the system. The film involves cheating on exams, a rivalry with Amy Squirrel, and a romance with a gym teacher played by Jason Segel.

• Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever — Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is an action film starring Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu. It is often remembered as a notoriously poor film and for being adapted into a Game Boy Advance game.

• Band of Brothers — Band of Brothers is the HBO miniseries about Easy Company of the 101st Airborne in World War II. It follows the unit through Currahee training, D-Day, Carentan, Market Garden, and the Bulge.

• Barbara Loden
  • Wanda — Wanda is the title character of Barbara Loden’s only film, a bleak story about a woman drawn into life with a bank robber after losing her family. The name also appears in Spawn as the wife of Al Simmons.

• Barbarian — A barbarian is a non-Greek or outsider figure, and the word was later used broadly for peoples seen as uncivilized. It also names the yellow-haired Clash of Clans troop and the 2022 horror film Barbarian.

• Barton Fink — Barton Fink is the title character in the Coen brothers film about a New York playwright trying to write in Hollywood. He stays in a seedy Los Angeles hotel, befriends Charlie Meadows, and is drawn into the film’s surreal mix of labor, art, and violence.

• Basketball films
  • White Men Can’t Jump — White Men Can’t Jump is Ron Shelton’s basketball comedy about hustlers Billy Hoyle and Sidney Dean. The film follows their street-ball scams and rivalry, with Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes in the lead roles.

• Batman Forever — Batman Forever is the third film in the 1990s Batman series, starring Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne. It features Jim Carrey as the Riddler, Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, Nicole Kidman, and Chris O’Donnell as Robin.

• Batman franchise
  • Batman & Robin — The 1997 Batman film sequel starring George Clooney as Bruce Wayne/Batman, with Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl and villains including Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze and Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. It features MacGregor’s syndrome and the Smashing Pumpkins song “The End Is the Beginning Is the End” on its soundtrack; it also gained a notorious Razzie-heavy reputation.
    • Nipples — Bat-nipples are the infamous anatomical details added to the Batman suits in Batman and Robin. Their inclusion became especially notorious in Joel Schumacher’s defense of the film’s costume design.
• Beauty and the Beast — Beauty and the Beast is the Disney fairy tale about Belle and a cursed prince whose spell is broken by love. Common clues include the enchanted rose, the songs “Be Our Guest” and “Something There,” and the 1991 animated film that was the first animated feature nominated for Best Picture. The story also inspired a 2017 live-action remake starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens.

  • Belle — Belle is the heroine of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and the first canonical Disney princess to marry into royalty. She is the bookish daughter of Maurice and was voiced by Paige O’Hara in the 1991 film and played by Emma Watson in the 2017 remake.

  • characters
    • LeFou — LeFou is Gaston’s comic sidekick in Beauty and the Beast. He is portrayed as a foolish, energetic henchman who follows Gaston through the film’s musical set pieces.
  • Mrs. Potts — Mrs. Potts is the teapot and household mother figure in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Voiced by Angela Lansbury, she is Chip’s mother and sings the title song.
• Beavis and Butt-Head
  • Beavis and Butt-Head Do America — Beavis and Butt-Head Do America is an animated feature film based on Mike Judge’s MTV cartoon duo Beavis and Butt-Head. Its plot begins with the theft of the title characters’ television and follows their road trip across the American West; the film also includes a large voice cast of celebrity cameos.

• Beerfest — Beerfest is a Broken Lizard comedy about an underground German drinking tournament and the brothers who train to win it. Its recurring characters include Landfill, Fink, Barry, and the eyepatch-like “Eye of the Jew” competition gag.

• Beethoven
  • Beethoven franchise — The Beethoven franchise is a family film series centered on a mischievous Saint Bernard. Its early entries include a sequel titled for Beethoven’s “second” and later films that continue the comic adventures of the Newton family.

• Beetlejuice — This description points to Beetlejuice, where Michael Keaton plays the striped-suit title character.

• Being John Malkovich — Being John Malkovich is Spike Jonze’s surreal film about a portal hidden in an office building that lets people enter the mind of actor John Malkovich. Its cast follows Craig Schwartz, a puppeteer who becomes obsessed with Maxine and gets drawn into the bizarre world behind the portal.

• Benji — Benji is the dog star of the family film series associated with Joe Camp. The 1974 film centers on the title dog trying to rescue kidnapped children, and the character’s first screen role made him famous as a stray who helps children.

• Benny and Joon — Benny and Joon is a romantic dramedy about the eccentric Juniper Pearl, called Joon, and the mechanic Sam who falls for her. Johnny Depp plays Sam, who imitates silent-film comedians such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.

• Beverly Hills Ninja — Beverly Hills Ninja is a martial arts comedy starring Chris Farley as Haru, a man raised in a ninja community. The film follows Haru to California, where he becomes entangled in a counterfeiting plot involving Allison and Martin Tanley.

• Big Daddy — Big Daddy is the nickname given to the huge diving-suit guardians of the Little Sisters in BioShock, often called Mr. Bubbles and seen in forms such as Rosies and Bouncers. The name also refers to Adam Sandler’s film Big Daddy and to the protagonist’s alter ego in Kick-Ass.

• Big Fan — Big Fan is a dark comedy directed by Robert Siegel. It follows Paul, a devoted sports-radio caller, and centers on his obsessive fandom of Quantrell Bishop, who is played by Jonathan Hamm.

• Bill & Ted — Bill and Ted are the dim-witted title characters of the film series beginning with Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and continuing through Bogus Journey and Face the Music. Played by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, they travel by phone booth through time, form the band Wild Stallyns, and at one point challenge Death in absurd games.
  • Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey — Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey is the sequel to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, with Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter returning as the title duo. The story sends them through death, Hell, and a game of Battleship with the Grim Reaper after their robot doubles kill them.

• Billy Madison — Billy Madison is the Adam Sandler comedy about an immature man who must repeat grades 1 through 12 to inherit his family fortune. The film includes Veronica Vaughn, played by Bridgette Wilson, and became famous for its absurd schoolroom quotes.

• Bing Crosby films
  • Going My Way — Going My Way is the 1944 Best Picture starring Bing Crosby as Father O’Malley and Barry Fitzgerald as Father Fitzgibbon. The film’s title song became famous, and the movie is one of the best-known Crosby vehicles of the 1940s.
• biographical comedy film
  • The Disaster Artist — The Disaster Artist is a 2017 comedy based on Greg Sestero’s memoir about his friendship with Tommy Wiseau and the making of The Room. James Franco directed the film and played Wiseau, with Dave Franco also appearing in the cast.

• Birdemic: Shock and Terror — Birdemic: Shock and Terror is James Nguyen’s notorious low-budget horror film about bird attacks, famous for its clumsy dialogue, bad effects, and environmental explanations for the violence. The movie stars a software salesman and a model who survive an assault by eagles and buzzards that even ends up involving doves.

• Black Hawk Down
  • Todd Blackburn — Todd Blackburn is the Army Ranger whose fall from a Black Hawk helicopter sparks the trouble at the start of Black Hawk Down. He is presented as a doomed early casualty in the film’s Mogadishu operation.
• Blade

  • Blade II — Blade II is the superhero sequel featuring the vampire hunter Blade and the Bloodpack. It reveals that Whistler is not dead and centers on the threat posed by Jared Nomak, also called Patient Zero.

  • Blade: Trinity — Blade: Trinity is the third Blade film, in which Wesley Snipes’s vampire hunter is joined by Hannibal King and Abigail Whistler. The film mixes action, horror, and comic relief through characters like Dracula, Patton Oswalt, and Parker Posey.

• Blades of Glory — Blades of Glory is a comedy about rival male figure skaters Chazz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy, who team up as a pair to compete together. The film is especially remembered for its absurd skating routines, including the attempted Iron Lotus.

• blank check — A blank check is an authorization that gives someone unlimited or unspecified spending power, often used figuratively for unconditional support. It is also the title of a 1994 Disney film in which Preston Waters gets one after a bicycle accident and uses it to spend a million dollars.

• Blast from the Past — Blast from the Past is a comedy about a man who emerges from a Cold War bomb shelter in the late 1990s. It stars Brendan Fraser as Adam and features Christopher Walken, Sissy Spacek, and Alicia Silverstone.

• blaxploitation horror films
  • Blackula — Blackula is a blaxploitation horror film starring William Marshall as the vampire Mamuwalde. Its plot involves a string of killings, a police investigation, and the protagonist’s tragic love story.

• Bloodrayne — BloodRayne is the vampire-huntress video game adaptation directed by Uwe Boll and starring Kristanna Loken. Ben Kingsley appears as a vampire king or related royal figure in the film series.

• Bloodsport — Jean-Claude Van Damme martial-arts film about Frank Dux competing in the illegal Kumite tournament in Hong Kong. Its climax pits Van Damme against Bolo Yeung’s Chong Li, and it helped launch Van Damme’s career; the title was also used for a James B. Stewart expose.

• Blow’d Up — Blow’d Up is a low-budget film advertised with a trailer full of absurd spectacle, including an exploding garden gnome and exaggerated explosions. Its slogan, “This movie’s gonna blow,” became notorious after one viewer mocked the studio by selling its stock online.

• Blue City — Blue City is a film starring Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy as two drifters on the run. It was released around the same time as Short Circuit and is associated with the brat pack era.

• Boat Trip — Boat Trip is the Cuba Gooding Jr. comedy about two straight friends who end up on a gay cruise. The film follows Jerry and Nick as they book a cruise liner in hopes of finding new women.

• Broken Arrow — Broken Arrow is a John Woo action film about a U.S. Air Force pilot who steals nuclear warheads and triggers a blackmail plot during a training exercise. It stars John Travolta as Major Vic Deakins and Christian Slater as the officer trying to stop him.

• Bubba Ho-Tep — Bubba Ho-Tep is the cult horror-comedy in which Bruce Campbell plays an aging Elvis Presley in a Texas nursing home. The film’s plot involves Elvis battling an Egyptian mummy, with Ossie Davis appearing as a black JFK.

• Buddy cop films

  • The Other Guys — The Other Guys is a 2010 buddy-cop comedy starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. Its plot involves a deadpan desk cop, a traffic officer haunted by a past shooting, and a financial scandal that hides behind ordinary police work. Michael Keaton plays a police captain who also works at Bed, Bath and Beyond, and the film ends by explaining how Ponzi schemes function. The movie repeatedly jokes about “desk pops,” Gator, and other absurdly mundane police details.

  • 22 Jump Street — 22 Jump Street is the 2014 sequel in which Schmidt and Jenko go undercover at college to investigate the WHY-PHY drug ring. It stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, was directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and ends with a joke montage of possible future sequels.

• Candyman — Candyman is a horror franchise centered on an urban legend from Chicago’s Cabrini-Green neighborhood. Its title figure has a hook hand and is associated with bees, mirrors, and the vengeful spirit revived in the 2021 Nia DaCosta film.

• Cannibal! The Musical — Cannibal! The Musical is Trey Parker’s early musical film, loosely based on the Alferd Packer story and later tied to South Park’s creators. It follows Packer’s trial and his disastrous winter journey through the Rocky Mountains, with songs like “Shpadoinkle” and “Let’s Build a Snowman.”}],

• Car salespeople
  • Car Salesman — A car salesman is a stock character and occupation that appears in fiction and film alike. Examples include Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo and Owen in Men of a Certain Age.
• cars — Cars are the animated vehicle-characters in Pixar’s Cars franchise, with Lightning McQueen, Mater, Doc Hudson, and Lizzie among the best-known examples. The term also appears in art-history clues involving installations, performance pieces, and paintings built around automobiles.

  • Lightning McQueen — Lightning McQueen is the Rusteze-sponsored race car protagonist of Pixar’s Cars trilogy. He is voiced by Owen Wilson.

  • Radiator Springs — Radiator Springs is the decaying Route 66 town at the center of Cars. Mater runs a junkyard there, and Lightning McQueen’s crash destroys the town’s main road on his way to the Piston Cup.

• Cashback — Cashback is a film about art student Ben Willis, whose insomnia leads him to work the graveyard shift at Sainsbury’s. The same term also names rebate-style programs that return money to customers based on their spending.

• Casino Royale
  • Vesper Lynd — Vesper Lynd is the Bond character played by Eva Green in Casino Royale. Her storyline involves Le Chiffre, Quantum, and her tragic death in Venice after she helps move money for Bond’s mission.

• Cast Away — Cast Away is the Robert Zemeckis film in which Tom Hanks plays FedEx employee Chuck Noland, stranded on a desert island. It is famous for the volleyball Wilson and for its survival-story premise.

• Cat Ballou — Cat Ballou is a comic western starring Jane Fonda in the title role and Lee Marvin in the dual roles of Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn. Lee Marvin won the Best Actor Oscar for the performance.

• Celebrity — Celebrity is a Woody Allen film about fame and celebrity culture in Hollywood. The cast includes Kenneth Branagh, Winona Ryder, and Leonardo DiCaprio, and the film title also appears as the name of an NSYNC album in a different context.

• Characters

  • Above the Law — Above the Law is Steven Seagal’s first starring film, in which he plays Nico Toscani. The movie involves a CIA drug deal and a confrontation with corrupt forces tied to explosives and exile violence.

  • Ace Ventura — Ace Ventura is the eccentric pet detective played by Jim Carrey. The character appears in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and its sequel, both centered on bizarre animal cases and the catchphrase about getting the “laces out” mystery.

  • Barf — Barf is the half-man, half-dog sidekick of Lone Starr in *Spaceballs*, played by John Candy. He is a comic alien creature who describes himself as his own best friend and serves as one of the film’s main companions.

  • Susan Alexander — Susan Alexander is the opera singer and second wife of Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane. Kane builds an opera house for her, making her one of the film’s central symbols of his failed attempt to mold her career.

  • Virgil Tibbs — Virgil Tibbs is Sidney Poitier’s tough Philadelphia detective from In the Heat of the Night and later films. He is best known for the line “They call me Mr. Tibbs!” after confronting racism and solving the murder case in Sparta, Mississippi.

• Charles Busch
  • Psycho Beach Party — Psycho Beach Party is a 2000 parody of beach movies and slashers written by Charles Busch. It stars Lauren Ambrose as a surfer girl with multiple personalities and uses campy murder-mystery hijinks to spoof 1960s beach-flick conventions.
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  • Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory — Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory is the fantastical confectionery setting of Charlie Bucket’s visit after he finds a golden ticket. It features Oompa-Loompas, the Juicing Room, a glass elevator, and musical locks such as the one that plays The Marriage of Figaro.

• Charlie St. Cloud — Charlie St. Cloud is a 2010 drama about a young sailor who keeps seeing the ghost of his younger brother. He later meets Tess Carroll and struggles to keep the promise to practice baseball every day at sunset.

• Charlie Wilson’s War — Charlie Wilson’s War is a film about the Texas congressman who helped covertly support the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War. The movie stars Tom Hanks and also features Joanne Herring and Gust Avrakotos.

• Child’s Play
  • Seed of Chucky — Seed of Chucky is the fifth film in the Child’s Play series and continues the story of the killer doll Chucky. Brad Dourif returns as Chucky’s voice, and Jennifer Tilly appears both as herself and in a voice role.
• Child’s Play franchise
  • Charles Lee Ray — Charles Lee Ray is the serial killer in the Child’s Play horror series who transfers his soul into a Good Guy doll, becoming Chucky. As Chucky, he is the murderous doll and recurring villain of the franchise.

• Cleopatra Jones — Cleopatra Jones is the Tamara Dobson vehicle that helped define blaxploitation with its high-kicking undercover heroine battling drug trafficking. The title character is a U.S. special agent, and the films often pit her against villains like Mommy. Its popularity helped make Dobson a recognizable action-film figure of the 1970s.

• Clue — Clue is the board game-based murder-mystery comedy film also known as Clue: The Movie. Its mansion setting, multiple endings, and blackmail-driven ensemble cast are the main identifying clues.

• Collateral Damage — Collateral Damage is an Arnold Schwarzenegger action film about a man whose family is killed by a Colombian drug lord. The story turns on a plan to stop a bombing in Washington, D.C.

• college films
  • Port Chester University — Port Chester University is the fictional college in the movie PCU. It is associated with Jeremy Piven’s character Droz and the communal dorm area called The Pit.
• coming-of-age film
  • Boyhood — Boyhood is Richard Linklater’s coming-of-age film shot over twelve years, following Mason Evans Jr. from childhood into young adulthood. It stars Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke, and Patricia Arquette as members of Mason’s family.
• coming-of-age films

  • Diner — Diner is a Barry Levinson film set in Baltimore in the last week of 1959, centered on a group of male friends nearing adulthood. Its ensemble cast includes Mickey Rourke, Daniel Stern, Steve Guttenberg, and Kevin Bacon.

  • The Flamingo Kid — The Flamingo Kid is a 1984 coming-of-age comedy set at an upscale Long Island beach resort and starring Matt Dillon. It is also remembered as the first movie rated PG-13 by the MPAA.

  • An Education — An Education is a 2009 coming-of-age drama set in 1960s England, centered on a bright schoolgirl whose romance with an older man disrupts her plans for Oxford. It follows her gradual discovery that he and his associate are con men involved in theft and fraud, and it stars Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard.

• Computer security in fiction
  • WarGames — WarGames is the 1983 thriller in which a teenage hacker accidentally accesses NORAD’s WOPR supercomputer and nearly triggers nuclear war. It became a classic cautionary tale about mutually assured destruction and computer security.
• Conan the Barbarian
  • Thulsa Doom — Thulsa Doom is the snake-cult villain of _Conan the Barbarian_, played by James Earl Jones. He is a shape-shifting priest figure who kills Conan’s parents and serves as the film’s main antagonist.

• Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen — Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen is a teen comedy based on Dyan Sheldon’s novel about Lola, a New Jersey teenager trying to win the lead in a school production of Pygmalion. The story also centers on her rivalry with Carla and her fascination with rock star Stu Wolff.

• Conquest — Conquest is a film about Napoleon, played by Charles Boyer, and Marie Walewska, played by Greta Garbo. Its plot follows Napoleon’s exile and return through Elba, Finckenstein, and Rochefort.

• Contagion — Contagion is Steven Soderbergh’s pandemic thriller, with a Cliff Martinez score and a plot that follows the rapid spread of a deadly virus. Its ensemble story includes public-health response, panic, and a finale that traces the disease back to a bat and a pig. The film was also associated with Scott Z. Burns’s screenplay work and viral imagery used in its marketing.

• Coralie Fargeat
  • The Substance — The Substance is a 2024 body-horror film starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. It centers on a youth-restoring product that creates a grotesque double of the user and is directed by Coralie Fargeat.

• Cradle Will Rock — Cradle Will Rock is a 1930s-set drama about politics and art, centered on the production of Marc Blitzstein’s labor-themed musical. The film follows the clash between radical theater and political pressure.

• Creature films
  • Harry and the Hendersons — Harry and the Hendersons is the 1987 comedy about a Seattle family who end up living with Bigfoot. John Lithgow and Melinda Dillon star as the parents, and Kevin Peter Hall plays the title creature.
• crime film
  • Boiler Room — Boiler Room is the 2000 film about a shady brokerage firm and its pump-and-dump stock scam. It stars Giovanni Ribisi, Ben Affleck, Vin Diesel, and Tom Everett Scott as figures inside J.T. Marlin.
• Crime thriller films
  • Lucky Number Slevin — Lucky Number Slevin is a 2006 crime thriller about a man mistaken for someone else and trapped between rival mob bosses known as The Boss and The Rabbi. It stars Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, and Sir Ben Kingsley.
• Criminals
  • robbers — Robbers are the thieves and outlaws who recur across literature and film, from Robin Hood’s band to Ali Baba’s forty thieves. The clue set also points to famous criminal couples such as Bonnie and Clyde and to heist films like Dog Day Afternoon, Heat, and Reservoir Dogs.
• Crocodile Dundee — Crocodile Dundee is the outback adventurer played by Paul Hogan in the 1980s film series of the same name. He is remembered for the line about a knife and for being transplanted from Australia to New York.
  • Mick “Crocodile” Dundee — Mick ‘Crocodile’ Dundee is the Australian adventurer played by Paul Hogan who became famous for the line ‘That’s not a knife; this is a knife.’ Across the films, he is linked to journalist Sue Charlton and to a scarred leg that people mistakenly think is missing.

• Cruel Intentions — Cruel Intentions is a teen adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons starring Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Ryan Phillippe as manipulative wealthy socialites. Its plot centers on a wager over seduction, while scenes involving Sebastian, Annette, and Kathryn became especially memorable.

• Cult film — A cult film is a movie that develops a devoted, sometimes obsessive fan base, often long after release and sometimes after initially modest or poor reception. It is not necessarily a mainstream hit. Examples commonly associated with the label include The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Big Lebowski, Blade Runner, and The Exorcist.

• Cult films
  • Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death — Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death is a cult comedy film about an expedition into a dangerous jungle region of southern California. It features Shannon Tweed, Bill Maher, and Adrienne Barbeau as the leader of the Piranha Women.

• Céline — Céline is a shared character name in several films, including the Before trilogy and a Jacques Rivette film. The name is also used for a fashion label associated with Phoebe Philo and minimalist women’s clothing.

• D.C. Cab — D.C. Cab is a 1980s comedy about a rundown taxi company and its lazy but later motivated drivers. The film stars Adam Baldwin, Gary Busey, Mr. T, and others, with Mr. T playing a Beltway taxi driver.

• Da Vinci’s City Hall — Da Vinci’s City Hall is a Canadian television spin-off of Da Vinci’s Inquest. It follows coroner Nicholas Campbell’s character after he becomes mayor of Vancouver and lasted only one season.

• Dan in Real Life — Dan in Real Life is a romantic comedy starring Steve Carell as a widowed advice columnist named Dan Burns. The film also features Juliette Binoche as Marie and centers on a family trip to Rhode Island.

• dance films

  • Step Up 2 the Streets — Step Up 2 the Streets is a 2008 dance film set around the Maryland School of the Arts. It follows street-dance clashes and features a soundtrack that includes remixes and a finale using Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name.”

  • Strictly Ballroom — Strictly Ballroom is Baz Luhrmann’s 1992 film about ballroom dancer Scott Hastings and beginner Fran, who challenge the rules of the Australian dance federation. The story follows their bid to win the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dance Competition, and it launched Luhrmann’s Red Curtain Trilogy.

• Dance With Me — “Dance With Me” is a song title shared by an Orleans ballad and a dance film with a Cuban setting. The film stars Vanessa Williams and Kris Kristofferson, while the song is associated with Orleans and their other hit “Still the One.”

• Dangerous Minds — Dangerous Minds is the Michelle Pfeiffer film about an ex-Marine teaching an inner-city high school class, based on My Posse Don’t Do Homework. It is also identified by Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” and the later ABC television remake starring Annie Potts.

• Dark comedy films
  • The Opposite of Sex — The Opposite of Sex is a dark comedy about Dede Truitt, her gay half-brother Bill, and the tangled relationships that follow. The plot involves seduction, blackmail, and a scheme built around Bill’s lover Matt.

• Dawn of the Dead — Dawn of the Dead is George A. Romero’s 1978 zombie film, the middle entry in his Living Dead series. It centers on survivors holed up in a shopping mall while a biker gang and the undead invade. The film was later remade in 2004 and also had a faster European version titled Zombie.

• Deadpool
  • Deadpool 2 — Deadpool 2 is the sequel in which Wade Wilson assembles a disastrous superhero team and battles Cable over the fate of Firefist. Its self-aware jokes include a Christmas re-release frame story and a soundtrack gag built around Celine Dion and “Ashes.”

• Death at a Funeral — Death at a Funeral is a comedy about a chaotic family gathering after a father’s funeral, where a mix-up involving a supposed sedative causes escalating misunderstandings and public embarrassment. It was directed by Frank Oz, and it was remade in 2010 by Neil LaBute with Martin Lawrence and Chris Rock.

• Death Becomes Her — Death Becomes Her is Robert Zemeckis’s dark fantasy-comedy about immortality, vanity, and a potion that prevents aging. Its visual effects made it famous for grotesque body horror, especially the shattered and reassembled bodies of Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn.

• Death to Smoochy — Death to Smoochy is a dark comedy about the collapse of a children’s television star’s career, directed by Danny DeVito. It stars Robin Williams and Edward Norton, with Norton playing Sheldon Mopes, the performer behind the purple rhino Smoochy.

• Disney

  • 101 Dalmatians — The Disney story of Pongo, Perdita, and their many puppies, with Cruella de Vil trying to make coats out of them. It is best known through Disney’s 1961 animated film and its 1996 live-action adaptation starring Glenn Close. The animated film is also known for the Twilight Bark, for the villain’s pursuit of the puppies, and for pioneering Xerox-assisted animation.

  • Aladdin

    • Jasmine — Jasmine is the Disney princess from Aladdin, known for songs like “A Whole New World” and “Speechless.” The name also points to the fragrant flower used in jasmine tea and in Chinese and Malay cultural references.

    • A Whole New World — “A Whole New World” is the romantic duet from Aladdin sung by Aladdin and Jasmine as they ride a magic carpet. The song won the 1992 Oscar for Best Song and is associated with the Disney film’s aerial tour of Agrabah and other landmarks.

    • Friend Like Me — “Friend Like Me” is the Genie’s showstopper from Disney’s Aladdin, sung by Robin Williams. Howard Ashman completed the lyrics before his death, and the song is known for its flashy, comic performance style and repeated use in later covers and dance routines.

  • Encanto — Encanto is a Disney musical about the Madrigal family of Colombia and the magical candle that grants them gifts. Its songs include “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” and “What Else Can I Do?,” and most of the score was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

  • Enchanted — Enchanted is the 2007 Disney film in which Giselle is magically transported from an animated fairy-tale world to modern Manhattan. Amy Adams stars as Giselle, and the film features the song “Happy Working Song.”

  • Frozen — Frozen is the Disney animated film about sisters Elsa and Anna, featuring the songs “Let It Go” and “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”. The film follows Elsa after her powers trigger a snowstorm over Arendelle and she retreats into a kingdom of isolation.

  • Lady and the Tramp — Lady and the Tramp is a 1955 Disney animated film about a pampered spaniel and a streetwise mutt. Its memorable songs include “Bella Notte,” the Siamese cat number, and Peggy Lee’s “He’s a Tramp.” A sequel follows their son Scamp.

  • Maleficent — Maleficent is Disney’s live-action reinterpretation of Sleeping Beauty, starring Angelina Jolie as the title character. The film centers on the supposedly evil witch and became notable for its inverted family dynamics and fairy-tale revisionism.

  • Moana — Moana is the 2016 Disney animated film about a Polynesian heroine who travels with the demigod Maui. Its comic relief includes the chicken Heihei, and the movie was nominated for Best Animated Feature.

  • Pete’s Dragon — Pete’s Dragon is the Disney film about an orphan boy and his cartoon dragon friend Elliot. It is set around a lighthouse in Passamaquody, Maine, and features songs like “Candle on the Water.”

  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs — Disney’s 1937 first animated feature and first full-length animated film, remembered for the magic mirror, the poisoned apple, the dwarfs’ cottage, and songs such as “Heigh-Ho” and “Whistle While You Work.” It was a landmark early film in animation history and was praised for its pioneering animation techniques.
    • Seven Dwarfs — The Seven Dwarfs are the miners who live with Snow White in Disney’s first full-length animated feature. They include Doc, Sneezy, and Bashful, and are associated with the song “Heigh-Ho.”
  • Tangled — Tangled is Disney’s animated version of Rapunzel, centered on the tower-raised heroine with magical glowing hair. Its key names include Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, Mother Gothel, and the song “I See the Light.”
    • Flynn Rider — Flynn Rider is the roguish thief who escorts Rapunzel in Disney’s Tangled and is blackmailed into taking her to see the floating lanterns. He is voiced by Zachary Levi and is also known as Eugene Fitzherbert.

  • That Darn Cat! — That Darn Cat! is a Disney comedy about a cat that helps uncover a kidnapping case. The 1965 film stars Hayley Mills and Dean Jones and was remade in 1997 with Christina Ricci and Doug E. Doug.

  • The Fox and the Hound — The Fox and the Hound is a 1981 Disney animated film about the unlikely friendship between the fox Tod and the hound Copper. It is based on Daniel P. Mannix’s novel and follows the animals’ bond across the pressures of hunting and separation.

  • Zootopia — Zootopia is the 2016 Disney animated film about rabbit police officer Judy Hopps and fox Nick Wilde in a mammalian metropolis. Its plot centers on a conspiracy involving predators going savage and the villain Bellwether.

  • Cinderella
    • Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo — “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” is the fairy-tale incantation sung by the Fairy Godmother in Disney’s Cinderella, where it turns mice into horses and a pumpkin into a carriage.
  • The Little Mermaid

    • Kiss the Girl — “Kiss the Girl” is a song from The Little Mermaid in which Sebastian urges Prince Eric to kiss Ariel. The number is interrupted by spoken commentary and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song alongside another song from the same film.

    • Poor Unfortunate Souls — “Poor Unfortunate Souls” is Ursula’s signature song in The Little Mermaid. In it she lures Ariel with promises of help, boasts about her powers, and leads into the spell that transforms the mermaid’s voice and body.

• Disney Channel
  • Zenon films
    • Zenon Kar — Zenon Kar is the title character of Disney Channel’s Zenon films, a girl raised on a space station in the twenty-first century. In the sequel subtitle The Zequel, she continues the series’ science-fiction setting.

• Disney Channel Original Movies — Disney Channel Original Movies are films made for the Disney Channel, including titles such as Brink!, Susie Q, Zenon, Cadet Kelly, and Camp Rock. They also include High School Musical and other channel premieres featuring recurring made-for-TV franchises and characters like Proto Zoa.

• Disney films

  • Gus — Gus is the football-playing mule at the center of Disney’s 1976 film Gus, set around the California Atoms. The name also appears as Burton Guster, Shawn Spencer’s best friend on Psych.

  • A Goofy Movie — A Goofy Movie is a 1995 Disney film about Goofy and his teenage son Max on a road trip to Los Angeles. It features Powerline, Roxanne, and set pieces like Lester’s Possum Park and the song “Stand Out.”

• Disney’s Frozen
  • Let It Go — “Let It Go” is the Oscar-winning breakout song from Disney’s Frozen, performed by Idina Menzel as Elsa embraces her ice powers. Clues often mention the line “the cold never bothered me anyway,” the song’s many-language recordings, and the Demi Lovato single version.
• Disney’s Pocahontas
  • Colors of the Wind — “Colors of the Wind” is the Oscar-winning song from Disney’s Pocahontas, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Its imagery includes a wolf crying to the blue corn moon, a distinctive line often used to identify it.

• Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood — Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood is a Wayans brothers parody of ghetto-life films. It stars characters such as Ashtray, Loc Dog, Dashiki, and Toothpick.

• Donald Petrie
  • How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days — How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is the romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. Its plot centers on her intentionally driving a man away for a magazine assignment while he tries to make her fall in love with him.

• Don’t Breathe — Don’t Breathe is a horror thriller about burglars who break into a blind veteran’s house and discover he is far more dangerous than expected. Its central premise involves the burglars trying to steal a large sum of money from the veteran’s home.

• Dope — Dope is a film about Malcolm Adekanbi, a straight-A student in Inglewood who gets pulled into dealing drugs. It follows Malcolm and his friends Jib and Diggy as they become involved with molly and the dark web.

• Double Team — Double Team is a Jean-Claude Van Damme action film in which he teams up with a weapons dealer played by Dennis Rodman. The villain is Stavros, played by Mickey Rourke, and the movie ends with an explosive escape involving a Coke machine.

• Down to You — Down to You is a romantic comedy film starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Julia Stiles. The film is remembered as a sluggish early-2000s teen romance in which Stiles plays Imogen and the two leads slowly drift toward each other.

• Down With Love — Down With Love is the Barbara Novak book and film title associated with a satirical campaign for sex without commitment. The 2003 film starred Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor and paid homage to glossy Doris Day and Rock Hudson comedies.

• Dr. Dolittle
  • Dr. Doolittle 2 — Dr. Doolittle 2 is the sequel named after Hugh Lofting’s animal-whispering character. It features the title character working with trained animals such as Archie the bear and returning voice actor Norm MacDonald as Lucky the Dog.
• Dr. No

  • Honey Ryder — Honey Ryder is the first major Bond girl, played by Ursula Andress in Dr. No. She is remembered for her iconic entrance emerging from the sea in a white bikini.

  • Honeychile Ryder — Honeychile Ryder is the Ursula Andress character in Dr. No, often treated as an early archetypal Bond girl. She is the white-bikini sea goddess figure who sings “Under the Mango Tree” and carries a dagger and seashells.

• Dragon Ball films
  • Dragonball Evolution — Dragonball Evolution is the 2009 live-action film adaptation of Dragon Ball, starring Justin Chatwin as Goku. It is widely remembered as a poorly received adaptation and also features Emmy Rossum and Chow Yun-fat.

• Drive — Drive is the Nicolas Winding Refn crime film starring Ryan Gosling as an unnamed stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver. Its cool neon style, scorpion jacket, and violent elevator and hammer scenes are among its best-known clues.

• Drop Dead Gorgeous — Drop Dead Gorgeous is a dark comedy about a Minnesota beauty pageant where contestants begin falling away through sabotage and disaster. It stars Kirsten Dunst and Denise Richards and follows Amber Atkins as she rises after the Mount Rose pageant collapses into chaos.

• dubbing — Dubbing is the process of replacing or adding recorded dialogue to a film, show, or animation in another language or style. It is also the term for the initial fixing of a name’s reference in Kripke’s theory of reference.

• Eegah — Eegah is a campy 1960s monster movie featuring Richard Kiel as a giant prehistoric caveman. Its title comes from the caveman’s own guttural cry, and the film became a cult favorite for its low-budget strangeness.

• Employee of the Month — Employee of the Month is a title shared by a comedy film and memorable TV episode titles. The film versions include one starring Matt Dillon and Christina Applegate about a bank robbery and another starring Dane Cook and Dax Shepard in a retail-store rivalry.

• Encino Man — Encino Man is the Pauly Shore comedy about a prehistoric caveman thawed from the ice in Southern California. It stars Brendan Fraser and Sean Astin and is often remembered as a lightweight early-1990s teen movie.

• Enemy at the Gates — Enemy at the Gates is a film about the World War II sniper duel involving Vasily Zaitsev at Stalingrad. It was adapted from William Craig’s book of the same name and stars Jude Law and Ed Harris.

• Enemy of the State — Enemy of the State is a political thriller about a lawyer drawn into a government surveillance cover-up after the death of a congressman. The film stars Will Smith and Gene Hackman and centers on covert tracking and conspiracies.

• ensemble comedies
  • Cannonball Run II — Cannonball Run II is a 1980s ensemble comedy directed by Hal Needham and built around an overstuffed cross-country race premise. It stars Burt Reynolds along with a large cast that includes Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Jackie Chan.

• Eric Balfour — Eric Balfour is an American actor known for roles on Six Feet Under and 24. He also appeared in the film Six Feet Under and was featured in a Hyundai commercial as the devil.

• Eric Schaeffer
  • If Lucy Fell — If Lucy Fell is a 1996 romantic comedy directed and written by Eric Schaeffer. It follows two friends, Joe and Lucy, who make a pact to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge if they are still unmarried by Lucy’s thirtieth birthday.
• Ernest

  • Ernest Goes to Camp — Ernest Goes to Camp is the second Ernest film, in which Jim Varney’s character works as a counselor for troubled youth. Its plot centers on fighting a mining company, and the title character is the familiar Ernest persona associated with Varney’s films.

  • Ernest Scared Stupid — Ernest Scared Stupid is the Halloween-themed Ernest film in which the title character accidentally releases a troll. The movie features Ernest’s dog Rimshot and the troll villain Trantor, who can only be destroyed by the heart of a child.

• Ernest franchise
  • Ernest Saves Christmas — Ernest Saves Christmas is a 1988 comedy sequel in the Ernest franchise. In it, Ernest helps bring Santa Claus and his successor together before Christmas Eve ends.

• Eye See You / D-Tox — Eye See You, also released as D-Tox, is a thriller starring Sylvester Stallone, Kris Kristofferson, and Tom Berenger. The alternate titles refer to the same film.

• F.I.S.T. — F.I.S.T. is a 1978 film co-written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It follows a teamster leader named Johnny Kovak and centers on labor politics and corruption.

• Faces of Death — Faces of Death is a controversial exploitation video and film series built around gruesome death scenes and purportedly real footage. It became notorious for shock imagery, narration by Dr. Francis B. Gross, and claims that some scenes were re-enacted.

• Failsafe — Failsafe is the Cold War nuclear-disaster film in which a malfunction sends American bombers toward Moscow and the president must respond to avert catastrophe. It stars Henry Fonda.

• Failure to Launch — Failure to Launch is a romantic comedy about a 35-year-old man who still lives with his parents and is hired to help him move out. It stars Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker, with Terry Bradshaw appearing as McConaughey’s father.

• Family Business — Family Business is a Showtime reality series associated with porn actor and director Seymour Butts. The title also refers to a Sidney Lumet film in which Dustin Hoffman, Sean Connery, and Matthew Broderick play members of the same family crime line.

• Family Guy
  • All in the Family Guy LaFleur — All in the Family Guy LaFleur is a parody title combining All in the Family and Family Guy with hockey player Guy Lafleur. The clue points to the Montreal Canadiens star Guy Lafleur helping stop Stewie Griffin from altering the lives of Mike and Gloria Stivic.

• Family Plot — Family Plot is Alfred Hitchcock’s final film, a comic thriller about con artists and kidnappings for ransom that stars Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris. The plot centers on a search for the missing nephew of a wealthy woman.

• Farce of the Penguins — Farce of the Penguins is Bob Saget’s mock-documentary parody of March of the Penguins. It is a straight-to-video comedy project built around a broad celebrity cast.

• Fast and Furious — The Fast and Furious franchise is a series of action films centered on street racing, heists, and later globe-spanning adventures. Early entries such as Tokyo Drift and 2 Fast 2 Furious helped establish the series, which features Dom Toretto and Brian O’Conner.

  • 2 Fast 2 Furious — 2 Fast 2 Furious is the 2003 sequel in the Fast and Furious franchise directed by John Singleton. It follows Brian O’Conner in Miami as he teams with Roman Pearce and Tej to bring down Carter Verone. The film is also associated with Ludacris’s acting debut and the signature track “Act a Fool.”

  • Fast Five — Fast Five is the fifth film in the Fast and Furious series, directed by Justin Lin. Set in Rio de Janeiro, it follows Dom Toretto, Brian O’Conner, and their crew as they try to steal a crime lord’s money and clear their names.

• Film franchises
  • Planet of the Apes — Planet of the Apes is the 1968 science-fiction film in which astronauts discover a world ruled by apes and ending with the Statue of Liberty reveal. It launched a franchise built around Charlton Heston’s film and the famous final line about humans having destroyed their own world.

    • Beneath the Planet of the Apes — Beneath the Planet of the Apes is the 1970 sequel to Planet of the Apes, starring James Franciscus and featuring Charlton Heston in a supporting role. Its plot follows astronaut Brent into the ruined underground world beneath the planet, where mutants worship an alpha-omega bomb that is eventually detonated.

    • Escape from the Planet of the Apes — Escape from the Planet of the Apes is the third film in the original series, following Cornelius and Zira as they travel back to twentieth-century Earth. The film centers on their persecution, with Armando sheltering them and protecting their son Milo.

    • The Planet of the Apes — The Planet of the Apes is the film series and fictional setting in which intelligent apes dominate a future Earth. The original 1968 film follows astronaut Taylor and includes Dr. Zaius, while later stories expand the mythos around Caesar and the Forbidden Zone.

  • Poltergeist — Poltergeist is the horror film series about the Freeling family and supernatural disturbances, beginning with the 1982 Spielberg-produced original. Later entries included sequels with altered casting and settings, and the franchise also spun off a television series called Poltergeist: The Legacy.
• film series
  • Our Gang — Our Gang was Hal Roach’s series of short comedy films about mischievous children. Its cast included Spanky, Buckwheat, Alfalfa, and Pete the Pup, and the series was later known as The Little Rascals.

    • The Little Rascals — The Little Rascals is the 1994 live-action comedy based on the classic Our Gang shorts. It follows Alfalfa, Spanky, and their friends as they clash with rich boy Waldo and the He-Man Woman Hater’s Club.

    • Buckwheat — Buckwheat is the Our Gang character played by Billie Thomas, originally introduced as a girl and later remembered for the line “O-Tay.” The character appears in Little Rascals adaptations and is often paired with Porky.

    • Spanky — Spanky is the nickname of George McFarland, the child actor who played the leader of the Little Rascals in Our Gang shorts. The character is remembered for presiding over the He-Man Woman Haters Club and appearing in the 1936 feature The Little Rascals.

• Films about alcoholism
  • Leaving Las Vegas — Leaving Las Vegas is the 1995 film in which Nicolas Cage plays Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic screenwriter who goes to Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There he forms a relationship with a prostitute named Sera, and the role won Cage an Academy Award.
• Films about higher education
  • Accepted — Accepted is a comedy about a high school senior who, after being rejected by colleges, creates a fake university called the South Harmon Institute of Technology. It stars Justin Long as Bartleby Gaines and features Lewis Black as the fake dean.
• Films about social media
  • Ingrid Goes West — Ingrid Goes West is a film about a woman whose obsession with social media and an Instagram influencer drives the story. It stars Aubrey Plaza as Ingrid Thorburn and Elizabeth Olsen as Taylor Sloane.
• Films based on true stories
  • Breach — Breach is a 2007 film based on the true story of FBI agent Eric O’Neill and Robert Hanssen. It dramatizes the effort to expose Hanssen’s spying, and stars Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe.
• Final Destination — Final Destination is the horror film series about people who die in elaborate accidents after cheating death. The original film follows Alex Browning after he and several classmates survive a doomed plane explosion.
  • Final Destination 3 — Final Destination 3 is a 2006 horror thriller in which Wendy Christensen has a premonition of a roller coaster disaster. Like the rest of the franchise, it follows characters trying to escape Death after surviving a deadly accident.

• Freaky Friday — Freaky Friday is the classic body-swap comedy about a mother and daughter who exchange bodies on the title day. The 2003 remake stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, and later versions include a Disney Channel musical adaptation.

• Freejack — Freejack is a science-fiction film in which a race car driver is taken from the moment before a crash and pursued by people who want to use his body. The film stars Emilio Estevez and features Mick Jagger and Anthony Hopkins.

• From Dusk Till Dawn — From Dusk Till Dawn is Robert Rodriguez’s vampire crime film about the Gecko brothers, a strip club called the Titty Twister, and an abrupt shift into undead action. Written by Quentin Tarantino, it stars George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, and others as the evening turns into a fight for survival until sunrise.

• Fun with Dick and Jane — Fun with Dick and Jane is the title of a 1970s film and its later remake about a married couple who fall into financial trouble. The 2005 version stars Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni, and both films center on the Harpers turning to petty theft after losing money.

• Funny People — Funny People is Judd Apatow’s film about stand-up comedy, centered on George Simmons, a famous comic played by Adam Sandler, who is diagnosed with leukemia. Seth Rogen plays a younger comedian and joke writer who becomes involved in Simmons’s life as he tries to reckon with fame, illness, and old relationships.

• Fuzzy Bunny’s Guide To You-Know-What — Fuzzy Bunny’s Guide To You-Know-What is a sex-ed film with voice-over narration by the joke character in the clue. The title is a euphemistic reference to sex education and the movie is remembered for its crude comedy setup.

• G.I. Jane — G.I. Jane is the 1997 film starring Demi Moore as Jordan O’Neil, the first woman to undergo Navy SEAL-style training. Its military training antagonist is Master Chief John Urgayle, played by Viggo Mortensen. The film is also remembered for its head-shaving scene.

• Galaxy Quest — Galaxy Quest is a parody of Star Trek in which the cast of a canceled space show is mistaken for real heroes by alien Thermians. Its most famous lines include “By Grabthar’s Hammer, you shall be avenged” and “Never give up, never surrender.”
  • NSEA Protector — The NSEA Protector is the Thermians’ recreated spaceship from Galaxy Quest, commanded by Jason Nesmith’s counterpart, Peter Quincy Taggart. Its clues often mention the designation NTE 3120, the chompers, and the ship’s time-reversal device.
• George Romero
  • Night of the Living Dead — Night of the Living Dead is George Romero’s landmark 1968 zombie film, often treated as the start of the modern zombie movie. It follows Ben, Barbara, and Johnny as reanimated dead begin attacking after radiation from a returning space probe is implicated.

• Ghost Ship — A ghost ship is the haunted, abandoned vessel that appears in adventure and horror stories, often as the setting for deadly encounters at sea. The clue set also points to the 2002 horror film Ghost Ship, which centers on the Antonia Graza and its demon Jack Ferriman.

• Ghosts of Girlfriends Past — Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is a romantic comedy that reworks A Christmas Carol around the womanizer Connor Mead. Matthew McConaughey stars as Connor, who is visited by the ghost of his uncle Wayne and other figures from his past.

• Gilligan’s Island
  • The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island — The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island is a 1981 television movie that brings the basketball team to the castaways from the S.S. Minnow. The plot centers on the island’s energy source and a basketball game involving a mad scientist.

• Goon — Goon can mean a thug or henchman, and it also titles the hockey film about Doug Glatt, a brawler who becomes an enforcer. The clue also points to Eric Powell’s comic series The Goon.

• Gordon Parks
  • Shaft — Shaft is the 1971 blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks, who was also a pioneering photographer. Parks is known for his work at Life magazine, his photograph American Gothic, and his collaboration with Ralph Ellison on The Invisible Man.
    • Shaft’s Big Score or Shaft in Africa — Shaft’s Big Score and Shaft in Africa are the two 1970s sequels to Shaft, both starring Richard Roundtree. They continue the hard-boiled crime series built around the private detective John Shaft.

• Grosse Pointe Blank — A black comedy film centered on Martin Q. Blank, a professional assassin who returns to his Michigan hometown for his high school reunion. John Cusack stars as Martin; Minnie Driver plays Debi Newberry, his former girlfriend, and the plot also features the hired gun Grocer and a union-related subplot. The film is noted for its reunion-comedy/hitman mix and deadpan soundtrack-driven style.

• Grown Ups
  • Grown Ups 2 — Grown Ups 2 is the 2013 comedy sequel starring Adam Sandler and his ensemble of longtime comedy co-stars. Its plot includes a New England Patriots football-game flashback, a prank-loving cop, and the male fraternity-house energy that marked the sequel’s broad humor.
• Hamlet
  • Hamlet 2 — Hamlet 2 is a 2008 comedy starring Steve Coogan as a Tucson drama teacher who stages an original sequel to Hamlet. The film centers on a controversial production that includes the song “Rock Me Sexy Jesus.”
• Happy Gilmore — Happy Gilmore is the Adam Sandler comedy about a failed hockey player who becomes a golfer. Its most famous clues include Shooter McGavin, Bob Barker, and the line “The price is wrong, bitch!”

  • Chubbs Peterson — Chubbs Peterson is Happy Gilmore’s one-handed golf mentor, played by Carl Weathers. His backstory includes a lost hand and an accident involving an alligator, and he dies after a comic encounter with a gator head.

  • Shooter McGavin — Shooter McGavin is the smug golf rival and antagonist of Happy Gilmore, played by Christopher McDonald. He is remembered for his gold-jacket obsession, double-pistol celebration, and his bitter rivalry with Happy.

• Hard Eight — Hard Eight is Paul Thomas Anderson’s debut film, set in Nevada around an older gambler and the younger man he takes under his wing. The film features Philip Baker Hall, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Samuel L. Jackson, and it was also released under the title Sydney.

• Harold & Kumar

  • Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay — Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is the 2008 sequel in which the pair are mistaken for terrorists and end up on a chaotic cross-country adventure. It continues the stoner-comedy series starring John Cho and Kal Penn.

  • Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle — Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is a stoner comedy about two friends trying to reach the fast-food chain White Castle. Along the way they encounter Neil Patrick Harris, Princeton misadventures, and a car stolen by an Ecstasy-fueled thief who later gives them money for sliders.

• Harry and Tonto — Harry and Tonto is the road movie in which Art Carney plays an elderly man who travels cross-country with his cat after losing his apartment. The film earned Carney a Best Actor Oscar and follows a series of loosely connected stops and companions along the way.

• Head of State — A head of state is the figure who symbolizes a nation, distinct from the head of government. Head of State is a 2003 political comedy starring Chris Rock as Mays Gilliam, a local politician thrust into a presidential campaign.

• Heathers — Heathers is the dark teen comedy about Veronica Sawyer, J. D., and the title clique of popular girls. It became famous for its black comedy, fake suicides, and the line “What’s your damage?” and later inspired a musical and television remake.

• Hell or High Water — Hell or High Water is a modern western about two brothers who rob banks in West Texas. The film stars Chris Pine and Ben Foster, and Jeff Bridges plays the pursuing Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton.

• Hellraiser — Hellraiser is Clive Barker’s film that introduced Pinhead and the Cenobites. Its story centers on the Lament Configuration and the gruesome resurrection of Frank after he opens the puzzle box.

• Hellraiser franchise
  • Cenobites — Cenobites are the extra-dimensional sadomasochistic beings from the Hellraiser franchise who serve the Leviathan. They are associated with the Lament Configuration and with Pinhead, their best-known member.
• Herbie

  • Dr. Stumpfel — Dr. Stumpfel is the German engineer associated with the remake version of Herbie. In that version, Herbie is created when a picture of his wife Ursula falls into the vat that forms the car.

  • Herbie: Fully Loaded — Herbie: Fully Loaded is a 2005 Disney film about the Herbie Volkswagen racing under Lindsay Lohan’s character Maggie. The plot involves NASCAR, family troubles, and the car scratching champion Trip Murphy.

• Herbie franchise
  • Herbie Goes Bananas — Herbie Goes Bananas is a later Herbie film set largely around a trip to Brazil and a nautical mishap involving the title car. It features Captain Blythe, played by Harvey Korman, and the pickpocket Paco.

• High Road to China — High Road to China is a Tom Selleck adventure film. It is identified by the line, “The oxen are slow, but the earth is patient.”

• High School Musical — High School Musical is a Disney Channel film series set at East High and centered on Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez. Its songs include “Start of Something New” and “Bet On It,” and the franchise later inspired the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

  • High School Musical 2 — High School Musical 2 is the 2007 Disney Channel sequel set largely at Lava Springs Country Club during summer break. It features numbers like “I Don’t Dance” and ends with a talent show.

  • Sharpay Evans — Sharpay Evans is the drama-club antagonist of the High School Musical films, played by Ashley Tisdale. She is remembered for “Bop to the Top,” her rivalry with Gabriella Montez, and her later spin-off Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure.

• Hope Floats — Hope Floats is a film starring Sandra Bullock as Birdee Pruitt, a woman who returns to her Texas hometown after her husband publicly reveals his affair on television. The film also stars Harry Connick Jr. as her love interest and is directed by Forest Whitaker.

• Horrible Bosses — Horrible Bosses is a dark comedy about employees who plot against their managers. The film spawned a sequel centered on Nick, Dale, and Kurt and their disastrous business ventures.

• Horror films

  • Annabelle — Annabelle is the haunted doll associated with The Conjuring universe and its later spin-off horror films. The character also appears as a mischievous visiting cousin in Caddie Woodlawn questions, so the evidence points to two different identities sharing the same name.

  • End of Days — End of Days is a 1999 action-horror film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Jericho Cane and Gabriel Byrne as Satan. Its plot centers on Satan’s attempt to find Christine York, the woman destined to bear his child as the millennium approaches.

  • horror filmmakers
    • Ari Aster — Ari Aster is a horror filmmaker known for shorts such as The Strange Thing About the Johnsons and Munchausen. His features Hereditary and Midsommar helped define his style, with recurring cult, family, and grotesque imagery.
      • Midsommar — Midsommar is Ari Aster’s 2019 horror film about an American group drawn into a Swedish cult. Its bright natural lighting and rural setting make it visually striking despite its disturbing ritual content.

  • Killer Klowns from Outer Space — Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a cult horror film in which alien clowns arrive in a comet-like craft and trap humans in cotton-candy cocoons. The intruders terrorize a small town, and they can be defeated by puncturing their oversized noses.

  • Re-Animator — Re-Animator is a 1985 horror film based on H. P. Lovecraft’s Herbert West stories. It stars Jeffrey Combs as a mad doctor experimenting with a serum that reanimates the dead.

  • Supernatural horror films
    • It Follows — It Follows is a 2014 horror film by David Robert Mitchell set in a decayed Detroit landscape. Its plot centers on a sexually transmitted curse that makes a shape-shifting entity pursue its victims relentlessly.

• Hot Pursuit — Hot Pursuit is the title of a comedy film about a man who misses a Caribbean trip because of a test and then tries to catch up with his girlfriend’s family. The title was also used by a 2015 comedy about a police officer escorting a cartel informant’s wife to Dallas.

• Hot to Trot — Hot to Trot is a comedy film about a talking horse named Don who dispenses stock tips. It stars Bobcat Goldthwait and Dabney Coleman.

• Hotel for Dogs — Hotel for Dogs is a film about two orphans who secretly house dogs in a deserted hotel-like building. It stars Emma Roberts and involves the pets Andi and Bruce care for, along with shrink-wrap-related scams.

• House of the Dead — House of the Dead is the Uwe Boll zombie film based on the Sega arcade shooter series. The title also names the game franchise about Dr. Curien’s undead horde, and both works share the same Dostoyevsky title.

• House on Haunted Hill — House on Haunted Hill is a horror film title identified by a clue set mentioning Bridgette Wilson and Owen Wilson. The provided answer text says none, but the clue set points to the 1999 remake of House on Haunted Hill rather than an absence of answer.

• Hudson Hawk — Hudson Hawk is the action-comedy vehicle for Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello involving art theft, espionage, and absurd musical numbers. Its clues often include Andie MacDowell’s nun character, Leonardo da Vinci references, and its reputation as a notorious box-office bomb.

• Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall films
  • To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep — To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep are the first two films in which Humphrey Bogart starred opposite Lauren Bacall. The former is set in Martinique during World War II, while the latter adapts a Raymond Chandler novel.

• I Heart Huckabees — David O. Russell’s 2004 comedy about existential detectives, played by Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin, and the fictional retail chain Huckabees at its center. The film follows Albert Markovski, Brad Stand, and Dawn Campbell amid a corporate environmental campaign and a string of existential crises, with Jason Schwartzman’s character searching for meaning alongside an abrasive firefighter played by Mark Wahlberg.

• Imitation of Life — Imitation of Life is a Douglas Sirk film about a light-skinned daughter passing for white and the mother who raises her. It also shares its title with an R.E.M. song and is known as a remake of a 1934 film.

• In & Out
  • In and Out — This 1997 film follows Howard Brackett, a small-town teacher whose engagement collapses after an Oscar speech outs him as gay.

• In the Army Now — In the Army Now is a comedy film about a slack TV salesman who enlists in the military. It stars Pauly Shore and Andy Dick as an inept recruit sent off to fight in Chad.

• Independent films
  • Julien Donkey-Boy — Julien Donkey-Boy is a Harmony Korine film, notable as the first non-European Dogme 95 movie. It stars Ewen Bremner and Chloë Sevigny, with Werner Herzog as the abusive father.
• Indiana Jones

  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade — Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the third Indiana Jones film, opening with River Phoenix as a young Indy and centering on the search for the Holy Grail. Its memorable trials include the Latin inscription, the invisible bridge, and the Cross of Coronado.

  • Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark — Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is the first Indiana Jones film, in which Indy races Nazis for the title artifact and the lost Ark of the Covenant. The film is famous for the melting-face effects during the Ark’s climactic destruction of the villains.

  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom — Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the 1984 Spielberg-Lucas adventure that opens with a Shanghai nightclub sequence and a famous parachute-lifeboat escape. The film follows Indy’s battle against Mola Ram and a cult seeking sacred stones and enslaved children.

  • Raiders of the Lost Ark — Raiders of the Lost Ark is the 1981 Indiana Jones film co-written and produced by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg. It follows Indy’s race against Nazis for the Ark and is famous for its adventure set pieces, including the Well of Souls and the opening idol trap.

  • Sallah Mohammed Faisel El-Kahir — Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir is the Egyptian ally of Indiana Jones played by John Rhys-Davies. He helps Indy in Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, including scenes in Cairo and the search for the Well of Souls. The clues also note his cheerful singing and his friendship with Marcus Brody.

  • Short Round — Short Round is Indiana Jones’s fast-talking child sidekick in Temple of Doom. He is the orphaned Chinese boy whose real name is Wan Li.

• Innerspace — Innerspace is a comedy-adventure film about a shrinking experiment that sends a pilot into another man’s body. It stars Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, and Meg Ryan.

• Invasion of the Body Snatchers — Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a science-fiction title shared by multiple films about alien pod people replacing humans. The best-known versions include the 1978 Philip Kaufman remake and an earlier Don Siegel film.

• Invasion U.S.A. — Invasion U.S.A. is a 1985 Chuck Norris action film in which terrorists attack Florida and the hero Matt Hunter fights back. It is one of the better-known jingoistic action movies of the 1980s.

• Jamie Uys
  • The Gods Must Be Crazy — The Gods Must Be Crazy is a Jamie Uys comedy about a Bushman who encounters a Coca-Cola bottle in the Kalahari and heads off to dispose of it. Its sequel sends the protagonist’s children into trouble with elephant poachers.

• Jefferson in Paris — This film follows Thomas Jefferson as the American ambassador to France during the early French Revolution, with Nick Nolte playing Jefferson after the death of his wife. It also dwells on his flirtations with the French, his relationship with his daughters, and his interactions with enslaved people from home, especially Sally Hemings.

• Jennifer’s Body — Jennifer’s Body is a horror film written by Diablo Cody and starring Megan Fox as a high school girl possessed by a demon. Its plot follows a sacrifice gone wrong, after which the title character begins killing her male classmates.

• Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter — Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is a cult comedy film in which Jesus fights vampires in Ottawa. It was produced by Odessa Filmworks and stars Phil Caracas as Jesus.

• Jim Carroll
  • The Basketball Diaries — The Basketball Diaries is the film adaptation of Jim Carroll’s memoir about addiction and youth in New York. It starred Leonardo DiCaprio and was later notorious for being cited by a school shooter as a disturbing influence.
• Jim Gillespie
  • I Know What You Did Last Summer — I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 horror film about teens stalked after a fatal hit-and-run, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. The title was later reused by a Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello collaboration.
• Jim Sheridan
  • My Left Foot — My Left Foot is the 1989 film in which Daniel Day-Lewis plays Christy Brown, an Irish writer and painter with cerebral palsy. The film follows Brown’s struggle to communicate and his artistic success, and it earned Day-Lewis his first Best Actor Oscar.

• Joe Dirt — Joe Dirt is the title character of the David Spade comedy about a mullet-haired drifter searching for his parents. The film is remembered for its crude road-trip humor and a soundtrack packed with classic rock.

• John Ford

  • How Green Was My Valley — How Green Was My Valley is John Ford’s 1941 Best Picture winner about a Welsh coal-mining family and their changing village. It follows Huw Morgan’s memories of industrial decline, family losses, and the departure that ends his childhood in the valley.

  • Stagecoach — Stagecoach is John Ford’s 1939 western about a group traveling by wagon to Lordsburg, where Ringo Kid meets Dallas during an Apache attack. Common clues include Monument Valley, the dead man’s hand, Doc Boone, and its status as a landmark Hollywood western starring John Wayne.
    • The Ringo Kid — This cowboy role was John Wayne’s breakout part in Stagecoach, where the character is known as the Ringo Kid. The name also turns up in parody and comedy references to a “problem cowboy” who seems Beatles-adjacent.
  • The Searchers — John Ford’s The Searchers is the 1956 Western about Ethan Edwards and the search for his niece Debbie after a Comanche raid. Its famous opening and closing door shots and its influence on later films make it a staple of film-history clues, and Zacharias Kunuk reworked it in the Inuit adaptation Maliglutit.

• John Gale — John Gale was a director associated with low-budget action films, including Slash, SFX Retaliator, and Commando Invasion. The clues treat him as the person who said the quoted line about living for himself.

• John Krasinski — John Krasinski is an American actor best known for playing Jim Halpert on The Office. He has also directed films, made his directorial debut with Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and appeared in movies such as License to Wed, Leatherheads, and Aloha. He played the lead in A Quiet Place, directed A Quiet Place Part II and the 2024 prequel A Quiet Place: Day One, and voiced Superman in DC League of Super-Pets.

• John Q. — John Q. is the title character of the film about a father who takes a hospital emergency room hostage to secure a heart transplant for his son. The character is played by Denzel Washington in the 2002 movie John Q.

• John Wick — John Wick is Keanu Reeves’s ex-hitman franchise character, nicknamed the Boogeyman or Baba Yaga. The series begins with his stolen Mustang and murdered dog, then follows his violent return through the Continental Hotel and the underworld of the High Table.

• Johnny English — Johnny English is a comedy spy film starring Rowan Atkinson as a bungling secret agent. Its plot involves the villain Pascal Sauvage’s scheme to seize the British throne, with Natalie Imbruglia appearing as Interpol agent Lorna Campbell. The movie is also remembered for its spoof-Bond tone, its ABBA gag, and the recurring use of “See you next Wednesday” in John Landis-style trivia nearby.

• Joss Whedon

  • Serenity — Firefly-class spaceship commanded by Mal Reynolds in Firefly and the title of Joss Whedon’s film continuation of the series. In the film sequel, Serenity is pursued by Jubal Early and carries Malcolm Reynolds and his crew through events involving the Reavers, Miranda, and Mr. Universe in a far-future setting.

  • Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog — Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is Joss Whedon’s 2008 web musical about an aspiring supervillain. It stars Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, and Felicia Day, and includes songs like “Brand New Day,” “Everyone’s a Hero,” and “Penny’s Song.”

• Judd Apatow films
  • Knocked Up — Knocked Up is a 2007 comedy about a one-night stand between Alison Scott and Ben Stone that leads to an unplanned pregnancy. It is one of the Judd Apatow films associated with Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, and Jay Baruchel.

• Julie & Julia — Julie & Julia is the film that intercuts Julia Child’s French-cooking story with Julie Powell’s attempt to cook through Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The movie stars Meryl Streep and Amy Adams and is based in part on Powell’s memoir My Life in France.

• Jumanji — Jumanji is the title board game at the center of the Robin Williams film and its later sequels and reimaginings. In the story, players are trapped in a jungle world until they finish the game, with Alan Parrish among the best-known characters.
  • Zathura: A Space Adventure — Zathura: A Space Adventure is a 2005 fantasy film often described as a spiritual sequel to Jumanji. It follows a board game that sends a house into space and toward a black hole.

• Killer of Sheep — Killer of Sheep is Charles Burnett’s landmark 1970s film set in Watts and centered on Stan, a slaughterhouse worker. Its loose, vignette-like structure and documentary feel make it a key work of the L.A. Rebellion.

• KISS
  • Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park — Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park is a 1978 made-for-TV film starring the rock band KISS at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The band uses superpowers to stop the villain Abner Devereaux from destroying the amusement park.

• Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events — Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is the film adaptation of the Baudelaire stories narrated by Snicket and starring Meryl Streep as Aunt Josephine. The story follows the children’s repeated encounters with villains like Captain Julio Sham and the hook-handed Fernald.

• Leprechaun
  • Leprechaun II — This horror sequel stars Warwick Davis as the title leprechaun and features Jennifer as the heroine. It continues the franchise begun by Leprechaun.
• Leprechaun (film series)
  • The Leprechaun — The Leprechaun is the murderous Warwick Davis horror character who hunts for his stolen pot of gold. Across the film series he ends up in places like Las Vegas, space, the hood, and a North Dakota farmhouse, while repeatedly surviving absurdly violent encounters.
• Lethal Weapon — Lethal Weapon is the Richard Donner buddy-cop film series starring Mel Gibson as Riggs and Danny Glover as Murtaugh. The franchise spans four films and includes action scenes, comic relief from Joe Pesci, and Jet Li’s American-film debut in the fourth installment.

  • Lethal Weapon 2 — Lethal Weapon 2 is the 1989 sequel in the Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh action series. It is best known for the villain’s claim of diplomatic immunity and the climax aboard the freighter Alba Varden.

  • Roger Murtaugh — Roger Murtaugh is the LAPD detective played by Danny Glover in the Lethal Weapon films. He is defined by his complaints that he is “too old for this shit,” his family life, and his partnership with Martin Riggs.

• Life as a House — Life as a House is a drama about a man with terminal cancer, played by Kevin Kline, who tries to rebuild his life and family by renovating a coastal house. It also brought attention to Hayden Christensen in one of his early notable film roles.

• Life or Something Like It — Life or Something Like It is a romantic comedy starring Angelina Jolie and Edward Burns about a reporter warned by a psychic that she will die soon.

• Light Sleepers — Light Sleepers is a film associated with Willem Dafoe and Susan Sarandon. Its cast list included a character billed as “Theological Cokehead,” pointing to its gritty New York drug-world setting.

• Limitless — Limitless is the title of both a Bradley Cooper film and a CBS television series based on The Dark Fields. Both center on the drug NZT-48, which gives users access to extraordinary mental performance.

• Live Nude Girls — Live Nude Girls is an ensemble film about women sharing sexual secrets at a slumber party hosted by a middle-aged bisexual named Jill. Dana Delany stars in the film, which plays as a comic drama about repressed friendships and candor.

• Lizzie McGuire
  • The Lizzie McGuire Movie — A Disney Channel feature-film continuation of the television series Lizzie McGuire, starring Hilary Duff as the title character. Lizzie travels to Rome, where she is mistaken for Isabella, the singing partner of Italian pop star Paolo Valisari.

• Logan’s Run — Logan’s Run is the dystopian film and novel about a future society that kills or renews people when they reach a fixed age limit. In the film, Logan is a Sandman who comes to question the system and seeks Sanctuary with Jessica 6.

• Looney Tunes films
  • Space Jam — Space Jam is the 1996 film in which Michael Jordan teams with the Looney Tunes to play a basketball game against alien opponents. Bill Murray appears near the end to help fill out the TuneSquad roster.

• Love Bites — “Love Bites” is a song title used for a 1980s vampire comedy and a Def Leppard single lyric clue. In the film clue, Adam Ant plays a vampire trying to become human again after centuries asleep.

• Love Potion #9 — Love Potion #9 is the title of a romantic comedy film about a shy biochemist who becomes irresistible after testing a magical concoction. Its title comes from the Leiber and Stoller song of the same name.

• Lucas — Lucas is a 1980s coming-of-age film about a shy teenage outsider who falls for an older girl and navigates high school awkwardness. It stars Corey Haim, Winona Ryder, and Charlie Sheen, and is also remembered for memorable lines like “Damn the man!” in a different teen-movie clue set nearby.

• Ma and Pa Kettle — A comic hillbilly couple and the title characters of a long-running Universal film series spun off from The Egg and I. Portrayed by Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride, they appeared in early 1950s films featuring large, chaotic families and rural slapstick humor, including Back on the Farm, At Home, and At Waikiki.

• Machete — Machete is the action figure conceived as a fake grindhouse trailer and later developed into a feature film vehicle for Danny Trejo. It centers on a betrayed Mexican gunman who fights back with the weapon that gives the title its name.

• Mad Dog and Glory — Mad Dog and Glory is a film starring Bruce Willis and Uma Thurman. Its title character is a mobster nicknamed Mad Dog whose girlfriend is played by Thurman.

• Maid in Manhattan — Maid in Manhattan is a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez as Marisa Ventura, a hotel chambermaid in Manhattan. The plot involves a mistaken identity romance with a political candidate played by Ralph Fiennes.

• Mallrats — Mallrats is a Kevin Smith comedy about two dumped friends who retreat to a shopping mall. It features Brodie, T.S. Quint, Mr. Svenning, Stan Lee’s cameo, and a closing-credits song of the same title by Wax.

• Man of the Year — Man of the Year is a Barry Levinson comedy in which Robin Williams plays Tom Dobbs, a satirical TV host who runs for president. The film’s premise turns on an electronic voting glitch that accidentally elects Dobbs, with supporting roles for Jeff Goldblum, Laura Linney, and Lewis Black.

• Mario Van Peebles — Mario Van Peebles is an actor and director known for directing New Jack City and Panther. He is the son of filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles and played Andrew Taylor on L.A. Law.

• Mark Pellington — Mark Pellington is a filmmaker and music-video director best known for directing Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy.” He later directed the films Arlington Road and The Mothman Prophecies.

• Mark Waters
  • House of Yes — House of Yes is the 1997 dark comedy in which Parker Posey plays a disturbed Jackie Kennedy obsessive. The film is known for its incest theme and for its manic, blackly comic family dynamics.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe — The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the interconnected film franchise that began with Iron Man and includes Black Panther. Disney+ expanded it further with What If, which imagines alternate versions of characters like T’Challa and Thor.

  • Avengers: Endgame — Avengers: Endgame is the 2019 Marvel film that ends with Tony Stark’s funeral and a final sequence built around the aftermath of the Infinity Saga. It was the highest-grossing film in the Avengers series and a major global box-office hit upon release.

  • Avengers: Infinity War — Avengers: Infinity War is the 2018 Marvel film that brings together Thor, Star-Lord, Captain America, and other heroes against Thanos. It became a massive box-office success and was famous for its abrupt ending and meme-generating twist.

  • Captain America: The First Avenger — Captain America: The First Avenger is the World War II-set Marvel film in which Steve Rogers fights the Red Skull. It ends with Rogers awakening in the twenty-first century and meeting Nick Fury.

  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier — Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the 2014 Marvel sequel that follows Steve Rogers in a conspiracy-driven political thriller. It introduces Sam Wilson and includes Crossbones, Falcon, and the recurring line “On your left.”

  • Iron Man 2 — Iron Man 2 is the Marvel superhero sequel in which Tony Stark publicly unveils his armor while dealing with Ivan Vanko, a Russian engineer who attacks at the Monaco Grand Prix. The film also centers on Stark’s clashes with Justin Hammer, the introduction of Natasha Romanoff, and the post-credits tease involving a mysterious hammer at a crater.

  • Spider-Man: Far from Home — Spider-Man: Far from Home is the 2019 Tom Holland sequel set during a school trip to Europe, where Peter Parker faces Mysterio after traveling through Venice and other locations. The film includes Nick Fury, MJ, the Shard, and Tower Bridge, and it ends with Peter’s secret identity being endangered.

  • The Avengers

    • Marvel’s The Avengers — Marvel’s The Avengers is the 2012 film that brings together Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, and other heroes. Its plot is driven by Loki’s attack and the death of Phil Coulson.
• Mary Lambert
  • The In Crowd — The In Crowd is both a title associated with a 1965 Ramsey Lewis instrumental and a 2000 teen mystery film. In the film, the phrase refers to a socially exclusive group that the protagonist tries to join.

• Matchstick Men — Matchstick Men is the Ridley Scott film about Nicolas Cage as Roy Waller, an obsessive-compulsive con artist. The plot centers on his schemes with Frank and his relationship with his daughter Angela.

• Max Rockatansky — Max Rockatansky is the postapocalyptic road warrior better known as Mad Max. Played by Mel Gibson and later Tom Hardy, he is the central figure of the Mad Max films, including The Road Warrior, Beyond Thunderdome, and Fury Road.

  • Imperator Furiosa — Imperator Furiosa is the war captain from the Mad Max films who becomes a central rebel against Immortan Joe. She is associated with the Green Place, the Vuvalini, and the star-chart tattoo on her arm.

  • Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome — Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is the 1985 post-apocalyptic film starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner. It features Bartertown, the arena slogan “two men enter, one man leaves,” and Max’s battle with Aunty and Master.

    • Copy Cats — The Copy Cats are the bumbling henchmen who assist Master Blaster. Individual members named in the clues include Kool Kitty, She-Lion, and Fat Cat.

    • The Thunderdome — The Thunderdome is the giant steel arena in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome where disputes in Bartertown are settled by deathmatch. The chant “two men enter, one man leaves” is one of its signature slogans.

  • Mad Max Rockatansky — Mad Max Rockatansky is the title character of the Mad Max film series. He is played by Mel Gibson in the original trilogy and by Tom Hardy in Fury Road.

• Men of Honor — Men of Honor is the film about Carl Brashear, the Navy’s first Black master diver, and his training under Billy Sunday. It stars Cuba Gooding Jr. as Brashear and Robert De Niro as the hard-driving instructor who tries to make him fail.

• military comedies
  • Stripes — Stripes is the 1981 Bill Murray comedy about a platoon of misfits in basic training, with Harold Ramis and John Candy among the cast. The film culminates in a mission into Czechoslovakia and is remembered for its deadpan military humor.
• Mimic
  • Technical Assistant Cora — Technical Assistant Cora is a character in the science-fiction film Mimic. The prompt describes a female sci-fi character who is covered with antibodies, which matches that film’s creature-feature setup.
• Minecraft
  • A Minecraft Movie — A Minecraft Movie is the 2025 video-game adaptation directed by Jared Hess and starring Jack Black as Steve. It follows a group from Chuglass, Idaho, into Minecraft’s digital world and features characters such as Garrett the Garbage Man, a Matt Berry-voiced Villager, and a chicken jockey scene.

• Miracle At St. Anna — Miracle at St. Anna is Spike Lee’s World War II film about Black American soldiers in Italy and the massacre survivor Aubrey Stamps. Its story includes a later revenge killing framed by the trauma of the war.

• Miracle on 34th Street — Miracle on 34th Street is the Christmas story about Kris Kringle, whose sanity is tested in court when Fred Gailey uses the post office to prove his identity. The original film starred Edmund Gwenn and Natalie Wood, and later versions included Richard Attenborough as Kris Kringle. The 1994 remake starred Mara Wilson as Susan Walker.

• Mission to Mars — Mission to Mars is a film about a crew’s journey to Mars that ends with the discovery of an ancient Martian spacecraft. It stars Gary Sinise and Tim Robbins and was once associated with an earlier title, Rocket to the Moon.

• Monsters vs. Aliens — Monsters vs. Aliens is a DreamWorks animated film in which Susan becomes Ginormica after being hit by a strange object. It features General Monger, Gallaxhar, and a team of monsters used to repel an alien invasion.

• Monsters, Inc. — Pixar film about Sulley and Mike Wazowski, monsters who work for the company Monsters, Inc. in Monstropolis and initially harvest energy by scaring children until they discover laughter is more powerful. It features Boo, Randall Boggs, Henry Waternoose, and the CDA, with a climactic shift from scream power to laugh power.

  • Boo — Boo is the human child at the center of Pixar’s Monsters, Inc., where she befriends Sulley and Mike Wazowski. Her presence reveals the film’s shift from harvesting screams to harvesting laughs.

  • Randall Boggs — Randall Boggs is the chameleon-like villain in Monsters, Inc., voiced by Steve Buscemi. He is the rival of Sulley and one of the film’s scarers.

• Moonstruck — Moonstruck is a romantic comedy starring Cher and Nicolas Cage, written by John Patrick Shanley. Its Italian-American family drama includes curses, opera, and the famous line about miracles no longer happening.

• Mortal Kombat
  • Mortal Kombat: Annihilation — Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is the 1997 film sequel to Mortal Kombat and is often remembered as a notorious video-game adaptation. It follows Earthrealm’s fighters returning to Outworld to confront Shao Kahn.

• Moving Violations — Moving Violations is a comedy about a group sent to traffic school, built around gags such as a reverse car chase and other absurd mishaps. It is the film frequently associated with Comedy Central reruns in this clue set.

• Mr. 3000 — Mr. 3000 is the baseball comedy-drama about Stan Ross, a former Milwaukee Brewer who returns to chase 3,000 hits. The film stars Bernie Mac and centers on an aging star trying to regain respect while mentoring younger teammates.

• Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium — Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is the 2007 children’s film about a magical toy shop whose enchanted items and strange rooms reflect its whimsical tone. The story centers on the shop’s boss, a young employee, and a heroine whose belief in magic helps restore the emporium.

• Mr. Mom — Mr. Mom is the 1983 John Hughes comedy in which Michael Keaton plays Jack Butler, a father who becomes a stay-at-home parent. The film follows his struggles with domestic life after he leaves his engineering job.

• Mr. Nanny — Mr. Nanny is the 1993 Hulk Hogan film in which a former wrestler becomes a bodyguard and is forced into childcare. The plot centers on protecting the children of a company executive from a scheme involving a microchip.

• Mulan — This Disney story follows Fa Mulan, who disguises herself as a man, trains with the army, and is aided by Mushu. The live-action remake sparked controversy before later streaming release, while the animated version is remembered for “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” and defeating the Huns.
  • Li Shang — Li Shang is the Chinese army general and love interest in Disney’s Mulan. He serves as Mulan’s commander in the film and is eventually associated with her romantic storyline.
• Muppet films
  • Muppet Treasure Island — Muppet Treasure Island is the 1996 Muppet musical adventure based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, with Jim Hawkins joined by Gonzo, Rizzo, and a cast that includes Tim Curry as Long John Silver. Its comic set pieces include the songs “Professional Pirate” and “Cabin Fever,” along with bits involving Polly the lobster and the ship Hispaniola.

• My Fellow Americans — My Fellow Americans is a political comedy about former presidents, starring Jack Lemmon and James Garner. Its plot involves President Haney and two ex-presidents who uncover corruption within the administration.

• Mystery Science Theater 3000
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie — Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is a film based on the cult comedy series in which people riff on bad movies. It features the same satellite-borne characters, including Crow.

• Nacho Libre — Nacho Libre is the comedy film starring Jack Black as a Mexican luchador inspired by Fray Tormenta. It features Sister Encarnación, the wrestler Ramses, and the eccentric training sequence involving an eagle egg.

• National Security — National Security is a buddy action-comedy about two L.A.P.D. rejects named Hank and Earl. It stars Martin Lawrence and Steve Zahn and was directed by Dennis Dugan.

• National Treasure — National Treasure is an adventure film in which Nicolas Cage plays Benjamin Gates, a treasure hunter who steals the Declaration of Independence to uncover hidden clues. It also features Ian Howe as the rival villain and a chase involving secrets buried beneath Trinity Church.
  • stealing the Declaration of Independence — Stealing the Declaration of Independence is the caper at the center of National Treasure, where Benjamin Gates breaks into the national archives to recover the document and search it for clues. The plot leans on Revolutionary-era language and a hidden trail of relics, with the object later mistaken for a souvenir at a gift shop.
• Neil Simon

  • Murder by Death — Murder by Death is Neil Simon’s 1975 spoof of detective fiction, built around a mansion full of exaggerated mystery-story archetypes. It features Truman Capote as Mr. Lionel Twain and pastiches figures like Sam Diamond, Miss Marbles, and a Poirot-like chauffeur setup.

  • Seems Like Old Times — Seems Like Old Times is a Neil Simon comedy film about a wrongly accused fugitive who seeks help from his ex-wife. It stars Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, and Charles Grodin in a farce built around mistaken identity and remarriage.

• Nice Girls Don’t Explode — Nice Girls Don’t Explode is a 1980s comedy film about a teenage girl who is told that becoming intimate will trigger explosive pyrotechnic powers. Michelle Meyrink stars as April Flowers, and Wallace Shawn appears as the arsonist hired to keep her from acting on those supposed powers.

• Night at the Museum — Night at the Museum is the Ben Stiller film in which exhibits at the Museum of Natural History come to life after dark. Its clue set includes Teddy Roosevelt, Jedediah, Octavius, and the elderly security guards who try to exploit the museum’s magic.

• Night of the Lepus — Night of the Lepus is the cult horror film in which giant rabbits terrorize an Arizona town. The story follows attempts to control the animals with hormones and mutated blood before the situation spirals out of control.

• Ocean’s
  • Ocean’s Thirteen — Ocean’s Thirteen is the third film in the Ocean’s heist series. In it, the team targets Willy Bank after he betrays Reuben Tishkoff.
• Ocean’s franchise

  • Ocean’s 11 — Ocean’s 11 is the casino-heist film about Danny Ocean assembling a crew to rob three Las Vegas casinos. The title also refers to the original 1960 Rat Pack caper, whose robbery takes place on New Year’s Eve.

  • Ocean’s 8 — Ocean’s 8 is the heist film spin-off of the Ocean’s franchise centered on Debbie Ocean and a Met Gala necklace theft. Its ensemble cast includes Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, and several other celebrity cameos.

• October Sky — October Sky is the film adaptation of Rocket Boys, based on the memoir about boys in Coalwood, West Virginia inspired by Sputnik. Its title is an anagram of the book’s original title, and it stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Laura Dern, and Chris Cooper.

• Omega Doom — Omega Doom is a science-fiction film starring Rutger Hauer in a post-apocalyptic setting. Its plot centers on super-intelligent robots searching for a hidden cache of guns, which turns out not to exist.

• On the Basis of Sex — On the Basis of Sex is the biographical drama about Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s early career and campaign for gender equality. The film title points to her legal battles, dissents, and public reputation as the second woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Once Upon a Time in Mexico — Once Upon a Time in Mexico is Robert Rodriguez’s third film in the Mariachi trilogy, featuring El Mariachi, Agent Sands, and a coup plot against Mexico’s president. The film also includes Johnny Depp, Eva Mendes as a drug-dealing father’s daughter, and Rodriguez’s comic-book-and-pop-culture style of action.

• Open Season — Open Season is the animated film about the bear Boog and the deer Elliot, voiced by Martin Lawrence and others. The story follows their banishment to Timberline National Forest and features park ranger Beth.

• Orgazmo — Orgazmo is a Trey Parker film about a Mormon missionary turned accidental porn-star superhero. The plot involves a low-budget porn production, martial arts, and a conflict with pornographer Maxxx Orbison and his associates.

• Osmosis Jones — Osmosis Jones is the animated/live-action film in which a white blood cell and a pill companion battle a deadly infection inside a host named Frank. The movie features Bill Murray as Frank, Chris Rock as the title white blood cell, and an infection caused by Thrax.

• Our Man Flint

  • Derek Flint — Derek Flint is the James Coburn spy character from the ZOWIE films, a suave Bond parody with a heart-stopping meditation trick and a gadget-filled lighter. He fights the organization GALAXY and its attempts to control the weather, appearing in Our Man Flint and In Like Flint.

  • In Like Flint — This 1967 sequel to Our Man Flint sends James Coburn’s spy into a plot involving the all-female Amazons and the device called Operation Smooch.

• P.S. I Love You — P.S. I Love You is a romantic comedy about Holly coping with the death of Gerry Kennedy through a series of posthumous letters. Gerard Butler and Hilary Swank star in the film, which is remembered for Butler’s Irish accent.

• Paranormal Activity — Paranormal Activity is a found-footage horror franchise centered on Katie and Micah’s haunted home. Its first film became famous for its tiny budget and huge return on investment, and later entries include The Marked Ones and The Ghost Dimension.

• Passport to Paris — This direct-to-video family film follows Mary-Kate and Ashley as they visit their grandfather in Paris. Along the way, they meet two French boys and get swept into light romantic comedy hijinks.

• Paul Blart — Paul Blart is the bumbling mall cop played by Kevin James in the Paul Blart films. He works at a New Jersey shopping mall, rides a Segway, and is defined by his hypoglycemia and repeated run-ins with criminals.

• Paul Brickman
  • Risky Business — Risky Business is the 1983 coming-of-age film starring Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, and Bronson Pinchot. It is remembered for the underwear dance to “Old Time Rock and Roll” and for its Chicago-area teen premise.

• Phone Booth — Phone Booth is the thriller in which a publicist is trapped in a Manhattan phone booth by a sniper’s threats. Colin Farrell stars as Stu Shepard, while Kiefer Sutherland voices the unseen sniper who keeps him pinned in place.

• Pirates of the Caribbean — Pirates of the Caribbean is the Disney swashbuckling film franchise starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Its films include The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, and At World’s End, and they feature cursed crews, sword fights, and elaborate adventure plots.

  • Black Pearl — The Black Pearl is Captain Jack Sparrow’s infamous pirate ship in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. It was once called the Wicked Wench and is known for its speed, cursed crew, and repeated run-ins with the Dauntless and other ships.

  • Captain Jack Sparrow — A roguish pirate captain from Pirates of the Caribbean, played by Johnny Depp. He commands the Black Pearl, carries a magic compass and a jar of dirt, and is tied to Davy Jones’s Locker, the Brethren Court, Elizabeth Swann, and Tia Dalma. The character is also referenced in the Lonely Island’s Michael Bolton digital short, which jokes about a cinephile fixated on him.

  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl — Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is the 2003 swashbuckling film that launched the franchise. It features Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Barbossa, and a curse tied to Aztec gold and Will Turner’s bloodline.

• Pitch Perfect — Pitch Perfect is a musical comedy film series centered on competitive a cappella groups at Barden University. It follows the Barden Bellas, the Treblemakers, and characters such as Fat Amy and Becca.

• Planet of the Apes franchise
  • Rise of the Planet of the Apes — Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the 2011 prequel that reboots the film franchise by showing the origin of Caesar’s uprising. It stars James Franco and features Andy Serkis as Caesar, a chimpanzee created through experiments intended to cure Alzheimer’s disease.
• Planet of the Apes reboot series
  • Caesar — Caesar is the title of the apes’ leader in the Planet of the Apes reboot series, where he rises from a laboratory experiment to command a colony. The name also recalls the Roman imperial title, which was later generalized from Julius Caesar’s cognomen.

• Plump Fiction — Plump Fiction is a parody film that spoofs Pulp Fiction with broad, lowbrow jokes and a deliberately chaotic plot. Its cast includes Tommy Davidson and Sandra Bernhard, and the film is framed as a garish Tarantino sendup.

• Pocahontas
  • Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World — Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World is the 1998 Disney sequel in which Pocahontas travels to London and falls in love with John Rolfe. The film features Governor Ratcliffe again, along with a plot about preventing conflict between the English and Pocahontas’s people.

• Pretty in Pink — Pretty in Pink is a John Hughes teen film starring Molly Ringwald as Andie Walsh, a romance between an outsider and a wealthy boy. Its title also comes from a Psychedelic Furs song whose meaning is about nakedness rather than clothing.

• Private Parts — Private Parts is the autobiographical Howard Stern film and best-selling book about his life and radio career. The 1997 movie version stars Stern as himself and includes supporting roles tied to the show’s on-air personalities. Its humor centers on Stern’s shock-jock persona and crude workplace antics.

• Professional wrestling films
  • Beyond the Mat — Beyond the Mat is a Barry Blaustein documentary about professional wrestling. It follows wrestlers including Mick Foley, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, and Terry Funk as they try to navigate the business.

• Pump Up the Volume — Pump Up the Volume is a film starring Christian Slater as a teenager who runs a pirate radio station from a suburban Arizona high school. Its soundtrack is also noted for featuring Leonard Cohen, and the film’s title comes from the radio-program theme of turning the volume up.

• Pure Country — Pure Country is the George Strait film about a country star who leaves the spotlight and returns to a simpler life. The movie follows Dusty Wyatt Chandler, whose polished stage act hides a desire to reconnect with his roots.

• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
  • Jack Horner — Jack Horner is the name of the villainous character in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and also a porn director played by Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights. The animated version is the pink-haired child star turned collector of magical artifacts, while the Boogie Nights character is a crude adult-film director.

• Quills — Quills is a historical drama about the Marquis de Sade and the conflict over his writings in an asylum. Its clue set also points to a shop in the Harry Potter series that sells quills.

• Racing Stripes — Racing Stripes is a film about a talking zebra that wants to race, featuring a large ensemble cast including Mandy Moore and Dustin Hoffman. The term also refers to decorative stripes on vehicles, originally used to improve identification and alignment on the track.

• Raise Your Voice — Raise Your Voice is a drama about Terri Fletcher, a teenager who leaves home for a music camp in Los Angeles. At camp she deals with family grief, romance, and her father’s expectations.

• Rambo — Rambo is the action-film series starring Sylvester Stallone, beginning with First Blood and continuing through increasingly militarized sequels. The title character became a symbol of hard-edged Cold War and post-Vietnam action cinema. The franchise’s later films emphasized guerrilla warfare, rescue missions, and exaggerated body counts. It also became a pop-culture reference point for parodies and video-game-style action imagery.

• Randall Wallace
  • We Were Soldiers — We Were Soldiers is a 2002 Vietnam War film directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson as Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore. It dramatizes the Battle of Ia Drang, especially the fight at Landing Zone X-Ray.

• Ravenous — Ravenous is a horror-comedy-western set at a remote Sierra Nevada outpost where cannibalism becomes the central mystery. It is remembered for its dark tone and lines like “he licked me!”

• Recess
  • Recess: School’s Out — Recess: School’s Out is an animated film based on the television series Recess. In it, Dr. Phillip Benedict schemes to eliminate summer vacation, but T.J. Detweiler and Principal Prickly foil him.

• Red Heat — Red Heat is a buddy-cop film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Moscow detective sent to Chicago. The plot follows him and Jim Belushi as they pursue a Russian drug lord.

• Red Rock West — Red Rock West is a neo-noir film starring Nicolas Cage and Lara Flynn Boyle. Its plot involves Cage’s character being mistaken for a hired killer and getting caught in a western crime scheme.

• Resident Evil
  • Resident Evil 2 — Resident Evil 2 is the survival-horror sequel starring Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, set in Raccoon City with Lickers, the zapping system, and the corrupted police chief Brian Irons. It also includes the Hunk and tofu minigames and the mutated William Birkin as the final boss.
• Revolutionary War films
  • The Patriot — The Patriot is the 2000 film starring Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin, a South Carolinian veteran forced into the Revolutionary War. It climaxes with the colonial victory over Cornwallis’s army and centers on Martin’s conflict with Colonel Tavington.

• Rio — Rio is an animated film set partly in Minnesota and mostly in Brazil, where the heroine Linda uses the catchphrase “Cheese and Sprinkles.” It is also the title of a Duran Duran album whose cover art features a Nagel-style woman and includes “Hungry Like the Wolf.”

• Rizzoli & Isles — Rizzoli & Isles is a TNT crime series based on novels by Tess Gerritsen. It stars Angie Harmon as a Boston homicide detective and Sasha Alexander as a medical examiner.

• RKO 281 — RKO 281 is the HBO film dramatizing the behind-the-scenes conflict over Citizen Kane. It focuses on the making and release of the film and starred John Malkovich and James Cromwell.

• Road trip films
  • The Sure Thing — The Sure Thing is a 1985 romantic comedy about a college student on a cross-country trip and the woman he meets along the way. It stars John Cusack as Walter Gibson and Daphne Zuniga as his companion.

• Robin Hood: Men in Tights — Robin Hood: Men in Tights is Mel Brooks’s parody of the Robin Hood legend, starring Cary Elwes and featuring Dave Chappelle in one of his earliest roles. It includes Prince John, the Sheriff of Rottingham, and Brooks’s trademark broad comic set pieces.

• Rush Hour — Rush Hour is the action-comedy film series pairing Jackie Chan’s Lee with Chris Tucker’s Carter. The franchise began with Brett Ratner’s 1998 film and expanded into sequels and a television adaptation.

• Rush Hour 3 — Rush Hour 3 is a buddy-cop comedy film in the Rush Hour series starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. It is set partly in France and features Inspector Lee and Detective Carter in a high-profile case involving an assassination attempt.

• Rushmore — Rushmore is Wes Anderson’s film about Max Fischer, an overcommitted student at the titular private school who falls for an elementary school teacher. The film also centers on Herman Blume and features Max’s eccentric plays and daydreams, including a calculus scene about the area of an ellipse.
  • Max Fischer — Max Fischer is the overcommitted student from Rushmore, played by Jason Schwartzman. He is known for founding clubs, writing plays, and obsessing over elite extracurricular success while remaining romantically oblivious.

• Sausage Party — Sausage Party is a Seth Rogen animated comedy about food that believes being bought means reaching heaven. Its cast includes celebrities voicing food items such as a bagel, and the film became notorious for crude, profanity-heavy humor.

• Savannah Smile — Savannah Smile is a family comedy about a politician’s neglected daughter who runs away and hides with two inept fugitives that become surrogate parents to her. It was based on a book by Mark Miller and starred Miller as Alvie, Donovan Scott as Boots, and Bridgette Andersen in the title role.

• Saw — Saw is a horror franchise centered on the killer Jigsaw and a series of elaborate traps. Its later entries include the seventh film, also released as The Final Chapter or Saw 3D.

  • Jigsaw — John Kramer, better known as Jigsaw, is the Saw series’ trap-building killer and mastermind behind its elaborate death games, which he uses to punish people he deems unworthy. In the first film he pits victims against grotesque tests that force them toward self-mutilation or impossible choices. Tobin Bell plays him, and his schemes are associated with devices like the Reverse Bear Trap and the nerve-gas house game.

  • Saw III — Saw III is the 2006 third film in the Saw horror franchise, again centered on Jigsaw, Amanda, and John Kramer. The film features elaborate torture devices such as the reverse bear trap and was released two years after the first installment.

• Scary Movie — Scary Movie is a horror parody franchise that spoofs slasher films and other genre movies. Its installments include running gags built around absurd comic deaths and recurring characters like Brenda and Cindy.
  • Scary Movie 4 — Scary Movie 4 is a spoof film in the long-running parody series associated with the Wayans Brothers and David Zucker. It parodies recent horror films such as Saw and includes cameo appearances by several well-known figures.
• Scooby-Doo
  • Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed — Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is the 2004 live-action sequel starring the Mystery Inc. gang. It features Sarah Michelle Gellar and other returning cast members from the first film.
• Sesame Street
  • The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland — The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland is a 1999 Sesame Street film starring Elmo, who follows his beloved blue blanket into Oscar the Grouch’s trash-can world. Its plot centers on the recovery of the blanket after it is lost in a tug-of-war and stolen by the villain Huxley and his assistant Bug, with help from the Queen of Trash in Da Dump.

• Seven Pounds — Seven Pounds is a film in which Will Smith’s character Tim Thomas tries to atone for a fatal car accident by donating organs to people in need. Rosario Dawson’s Emily Posa is among the recipients connected to his plan.

• Shoot ‘Em Up — This Michael Davis action film stars Clive Owen as a gunman who helps protect a baby alongside a sex worker played by Monica Bellucci.

• Sister Act — Sister Act is the comedy starring Whoopi Goldberg as a singer who goes into hiding by posing as a nun. Its memorable musical set pieces include “I Will Follow Him” and “Hail Holy Queen,” and it was followed by Back in the Habit.

• Six Days, Seven Nights — Six Days, Seven Nights is the adventure-comedy starring Harrison Ford and Anne Heche as plane crash survivors on a deserted island. The plot follows their struggle against pirates and the jungle after they are stranded.

• Slap Her… She’s French — Slap Her… She’s French is a 2002 teen comedy starring Piper Perabo as a French exchange student who steals the life of a Texas cheerleader. The film was later retitled She Gets What She Wants for TV airings.

• Snow Dogs — Snow Dogs is a comedy about Cuba Gooding Jr. inheriting a team of Alaskan huskies and entering a sled-dog race. The film involves his discovery of his Alaska roots, the dogs Thunder Jack and Demon, and the voice work of Jim Belushi.

• Soapdish — Soapdish is a film about backstage scheming at a long-running television soap opera. It stars Sally Field, Kevin Kline, Whoopi Goldberg, Teri Hatcher, and Robert Downey Jr.

• Sommersby — Sommersby is a historical drama remake of The Return of Martin Guerre starring Richard Gere and Jodie Foster. Its plot turns on a Civil War veteran whose changed demeanor makes others suspect that he is an impostor.

• Son-in-Law — Son-in-Law is a Pauly Shore comedy about a California college student who poses as a farm family’s boyfriend to win their approval. The setup depends on his clash with the rural family and a Thanksgiving visit.

• Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Sonic 2 — Sonic 2 is the sequel film in the Sonic franchise, starring the blue hedgehog Sonic and his partner Miles “Tails” Prower. It features Knuckles, who is voiced by Idris Elba, and centers on the Master Emerald and a giant robot built in the villain’s image.
• South Park
  • South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut — The 1999 animated musical film by Trey Parker and Matt Stone is based on South Park and satirizes censorship, bad parenting, and musical animation. It includes songs such as “Blame Canada” and “What Would Brian Boitano Do?” and centers on the boys’ conflict over the influence of a movie, with a war involving Canada and Saddam Hussein.
    • Asses of Fire — Asses of Fire is the fictional Terrance and Phillip movie that sparks the plot of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut. It is presented as a wildly successful 1999 musical blockbuster that became a pop-culture punch line in the film.
• Spaceballs — Spaceballs is Mel Brooks’s science-fiction parody, especially of Star Wars. It features characters like Dark Helmet and Lone Starr and is remembered for its absurd merch jokes and “ludicrous speed” gag.

  • Dark Helmet — Dark Helmet is the villainous Spaceballs character known for his oversized helmet and absurd dialog. He is associated with references to the Schwartz and other parodies of Star Wars antagonists.

  • Prince Lone Star — Prince Lone Star is the hero of Spaceballs, played by Bill Pullman, who travels with Barf aboard the Eagle 5. He is revealed to be a genuine prince after a fortune-cookie reading and later helps defeat Mega-Maid by switching its vacuum from suck to blow.

• Speed 2: Cruise Control — Speed 2: Cruise Control is the sequel to Speed, starring Sandra Bullock and Jason Patric and set on a cruise ship headed toward disaster. Its plot centers on a hijacked vessel and a looming collision with an oil tanker, making it a notorious follow-up in action-film trivia.

• Spider-Man
  • Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the 2023 animated sequel that follows Miles Morales as he confronts a multiverse crisis involving canon events. It features Spider-Gwen, Miguel O’Hara, Jessica Drew, and the India-based Spider-People such as Pavitr Prabhakar.
• Spy Kids — Spy Kids is Robert Rodriguez’s family-action film series about the Cortez children, Carmen and Juni, who grow up as secret agents. The franchise became known for its playful gadgets, unusual visual gimmicks, and the debut of Danny Trejo’s Machete character.
  • Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over — Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over is the third Spy Kids film, centered on Juni Cortez entering a virtual-reality game to face the Toymaker. The film features Sylvester Stallone as the Toymaker and a series of video-game levels and holographic twists.
• Star Trek

  • City on the Edge of Forever — “City on the Edge of Forever” is a classic Star Trek episode built around the Guardian of Forever. Kirk must let Edith Keeler die so the future is restored, preventing the altered timeline from helping the Axis win World War II.

  • First Contact — Star Trek: First Contact is the film subtitle that refers to humanity’s first encounter with the Vulcans after Cochrane’s warp flight. The story also involves the Borg trying to stop that first warp voyage and a time-traveling Enterprise.

  • Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan — The 1982 film in which Captain Kirk returns to command the Enterprise and faces Khan again after the events of Space Seed. It centers on the aftermath of the Genesis Project, includes Ceti Alpha V, and is remembered for the death of Mr. Spock and Kirk’s line remembering him as having encountered no soul more human.

  • Star Trek III: The Search for Spock — Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is the 1984 Star Trek film in which the Enterprise crew travels to the Genesis planet to recover Spock’s body and katra. The story includes the destruction of the USS Grissom, a confrontation with Kruge, and the Enterprise’s self-destruction.

  • Star Trek Into Darkness — Star Trek Into Darkness is the second film in the rebooted Kelvin Timeline trilogy and features Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan. Its plot includes the Vengeance crashing in San Francisco and Peter Weller playing Alexander Marcus.

  • Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home — Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is the fourth Star Trek film, directed by Leonard Nimoy. Its plot centers on Kirk and Spock traveling through time to save humpback whales and prevent a probe from devastating Earth.

  • Star Trek V: The Final Frontier — Star Trek V: The Final Frontier sends the Enterprise crew to Sha Ka Ree in a search for God under the leadership of Sybok, Spock’s half-brother. The film is notorious for its disastrous reception and for scenes involving Yosemite, the Klingon captain Klaa, and the Pioneer 10 probe.

  • Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country — Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is the film in which Kirk is framed in a Klingon political conspiracy and the title echoes Hamlet. It also features a cameo by Christian Slater and the line about only Nixon being able to go to China.

  • Star Trek: First Contact — Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth Star Trek film and the first to feature the Sovereign-class Enterprise-E. The film follows the Enterprise-E as it travels back to stop the Borg from interfering with Zefram Cochrane’s first warp flight, with Lily Sloane as a major supporting character.

  • Star Trek: Generations — Star Trek: Generations is the film in which Dr. Tolian Soran appears and the Enterprise crew confronts him. It is the seventh Star Trek film, linking the original series and The Next Generation through the Nexus storyline.

  • Star Trek: Nemesis — Star Trek: Nemesis is the 2002 Star Trek film featuring the Reman Viceroy and Tom Hardy as a young clone of Picard. It is also known as Star Trek 10 and includes the massacre of the Romulan Senate.

  • Star Trek: The Motion Picture — Star Trek: The Motion Picture is the first Star Trek film, built around the Voyager probe V’Ger and the Enterprise’s attempt to communicate with it. It is remembered for Ilia, Decker’s union with her to complete V’Ger’s quest, and Spock’s emotional response to the machine intelligence.

• Star Wars: A New Hope

  • Death Star trench run — The Death Star trench run is the climactic attack scene in Star Wars: A New Hope, when Luke Skywalker flies an X-wing through the station’s trench to fire the shot that destroys it. It is one of the most repeated space-combat set pieces in Star Wars games, including arcade and console depictions that recreate the run.

  • Red Six — Red Six is the call sign used for Porkins in Star Wars: A New Hope. It identifies one of the Rebel pilot designations in the film’s Battle of Yavin sequence.

• Stargate — Stargate began as a Roland Emmerich film about an alien-possessed Egyptian god and grew into a long-running science-fiction franchise. The larger franchise is especially associated with the television series Stargate SG-1, its spinoff Stargate Atlantis, and the stargate wormhole portals themselves.

• Step Brothers — Step Brothers is a comedy about Brennan and Dale, two adult men who become stepbrothers when their parents marry. Its scenes include the Prestige Worldwide music video, the destroyed boat, and the famous bunk-bed rivalry.
  • “Boats n’ Hoes” — “Boats n’ Hoes” is the raunchy original rap song performed by the stepbrothers in Step Brothers. The song is associated with the film’s yacht-crash music video and its repeated boasts about women, money, and Sangria.

• Step Up — Step Up is the dance film franchise that began with a Baltimore-set movie starring Channing Tatum as Tyler Gage. The series centers on competitive dancers and expanded into sequels such as Step Up 2: The Streets and Step Up All In.

• Stephen Herek
  • Rock Star — Rock Star is the 2001 film in which Mark Wahlberg plays a fan who becomes the lead singer of his favorite band. Its soundtrack mixes modern rock songs with classic arena-rock tracks, including music associated with the fictional band Steel Dragon.

• Striking Distance — Striking Distance is the Pittsburgh-set thriller starring Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Dennis Farina. Willis plays a cop pushed to river rescue after clashing with fellow officers over his father’s murder and a serial-killer case.

• Suburban Commando — Suburban Commando is a comedy about Shep Ramsey, an alien crimefighter stranded on Earth and played by Hulk Hogan. Christopher Lloyd and Shelley Duvall appear in the film, which leans into broad science-fiction parody.

• Summer Catch — Summer Catch is a baseball-themed film about a minor-league team in Massachusetts. It stars Freddie Prinze Jr., with Jessica Biel as the love interest.

• Superbad — Superbad is a coming-of-age comedy about two awkward high school friends trying to survive a party and obtain alcohol before graduation. It made McLovin a pop-culture shorthand for the fake-ID scene and was one of Jonah Hill and Michael Cera’s breakout films.
  • McLovin — McLovin is the fake one-name identity used by Fogell in Superbad on a forged Hawaii driver’s license to buy alcohol. He poses as a supposedly 25-year-old Hawaiian organ donor and becomes entangled with police officers Slater and Michaels.
• Superhero films

  • Kick-Ass — Kick-Ass is the 2010 comic-based film about Dave Lizewski, a teenager who decides to become a real-life superhero. It features Hit-Girl, Big Daddy, and Red Mist, and centers on the title hero’s brutal, often inept crime-fighting.

  • Mystery Men — Mystery Men is the 1999 superhero comedy about a team of inept vigilantes defending Champion City. Its cast includes Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo, and other comic actors, and it features Casanova Frankenstein as the villain.

• Superman films
  • Man of Steel — Man of Steel is the 2013 Superman reboot starring Henry Cavill and introducing Amy Adams as Lois Lane. The film is remembered for its destruction-heavy climax and for Superman’s controversial killing of General Zod.

    • Superman III — Superman III is the 1983 Superman sequel that features Gus Gorman and a plot built around using computer manipulation to skim money from transactions. It is often remembered as the film inspiration for later heist jokes and as one of the less well-regarded entries in the franchise.

    • Superman Returns — Superman Returns is the 2006 film that brought Superman back to the screen and features Lex Luthor’s scheme with Kitty Kowalski. It is part of the Superman film line and centers on Clark Kent’s return after a long absence.

• Surfing films
  • Blue Crush — Blue Crush is a 2002 surf film starring Kate Bosworth as Anne Marie, a Hawaiian maid training for a big competition. It is loosely based on a Susan Orlean article and features Michelle Rodriguez and a romance with a football quarterback.

• Surviving Christmas — Surviving Christmas is a holiday comedy film starring Ben Affleck as a wealthy man who hires a family to pose as his relatives. The cast includes James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara, and Christina Applegate, and the film was released in October to avoid competition with another Affleck movie.

• Suspense films
  • Wait Until Dark — Wait Until Dark is a 1967 suspense film based on a Frederick Knott play, with Audrey Hepburn as the blind Susie Hendrix. The plot centers on criminals, a doll packed with heroin, and Alan Arkin’s Mr. Roat, and theaters famously dimmed their lights during its climax.

• Syriana — Syriana is a political thriller about the oil business and Middle Eastern power struggles. It stars George Clooney and Matt Damon and centers on the merger of Connex and Killeen, with a fictional emirate’s politics driving the plot.

• Tammy (2014 film)
  • Tammy — Tammy is the title character of a 2014 comedy in which Melissa McCarthy plays a woman having a chaotic midlife breakdown. The name also belongs to Ron Swanson’s mother and both of his wives on Parks and Recreation.

• Teaching Mrs. Tingle — Teaching Mrs. Tingle is a dark comedy about students who tie up their harsh history teacher, played by Helen Mirren, after a struggle over grades and a cheat sheet. Katie Holmes plays Leigh Ann Watson, who is trying to become valedictorian and clear her name.

• teen comedies

  • Bring It On — Bring It On is the 2000 cheerleading comedy starring Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union. It centers on cheer squads, with lines like “cheerocracy” and “cheertator” becoming part of its cult reputation.

  • Sorority Boys — Sorority Boys is a 2002 comedy about three men who disguise themselves as women and join a sorority. It stars Barry Watson, Michael Rosenbaum, and Harley Williams, with Heather Matarazzo playing Professor Bendler.

• Teen comedy films

  • Hiding Out — Hiding Out is a 1987 film in which Jon Cryer plays a stockbroker or financier who hides from the mob by returning to high school. Annabeth Gish co-stars as his teenage love interest.

  • License to Drive — License to Drive is the 1988 comedy about a disastrous driving test and a Cadillac joyride starring Corey Haim. The film also helped launch Heather Graham’s career, and its plot centers on Les trying to impress her after failing his road test.

  • Clueless — Clueless is the 1990s teen comedy loosely based on Emma, starring Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz and Paul Rudd as Josh. Its clues include the yellow plaid outfit, Tai and Dionne, the set-up of teachers, and Cher’s catchphrase “as if!”

• Teen films

  • She’s the Man — She’s the Man is a 2006 Amanda Bynes comedy that adapts Twelfth Night by having Viola disguise herself as a boy to play on a boys’ soccer team. The film is set at Illyria High School and fits the wave of teen movies reworking Shakespeare.

  • Can’t Hardly Wait — Can’t Hardly Wait is the 1998 teen ensemble film set around a graduation party, with Ethan Embry and Jennifer Love Hewitt among its main cast. Its plot follows Preston Meyers as he tries to confess his feelings for Amanda Beckett before leaving for Dartmouth.

• television films
  • Mother, May I Sleep With Danger? — Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? is a made-for-TV thriller about a young woman who falls for a dangerous man and is trapped in a cabin. It later gained notoriety as a 1996 Lifetime movie and was remade in 2016 as a vampire film.
• Tennis films
  • Challengers — Challengers is a 2024 Luca Guadagnino film about a tense tennis love triangle among Tashi Duncan, Art Donaldson, and Patrick Zweig. Quizbowl clues mention its Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross soundtrack, its Strangers on a Train visual reference, and Zendaya’s central role.

• The 6th Day — The 6th Day is the Arnold Schwarzenegger science-fiction thriller about a man who returns home to find that he has been cloned. The film follows Adam Gibson as he battles the conspiracy behind illegal human cloning.

• The Absent-Minded Professor
  • Flubber — Flubber is the rubbery green substance invented by Ned Brainard in The Absent-Minded Professor and revisited in the Robin Williams remake. It is famous for making cars fly and helping an underdog basketball team win.
• The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
  • Buckaroo Banzai — Buckaroo Banzai is the hero of a 1984 cult science-fiction film played by Peter Weller and created by Earl Mac Rauch. He leads the Hong Kong Cavaliers and the Blue Blaze Irregulars in adventures involving the Eighth Dimension and the World Crime League.
• The Amityville Horror
  • Amityville Horror — This horror story centers on the Lutz family’s haunted house in Amityville, a setting made infamous by bleeding walls and other paranormal events. It was adapted into a 1979 film and later remade with Ryan Reynolds in the role of George Lutz.

• The Aristocats — The Aristocats is the Disney animated film about Duchess and her kittens, who stand to inherit Madame Bonfamille’s fortune. The movie features Thomas O’Malley, the kittens Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse, and the villainous butler who tries to steal the inheritance.

• The Associate — The Associate is a film centered on a black female professional navigating a white male business world, with Whoopi Goldberg in the lead role. The title also appears as the name of a legal thriller involving Yale Law graduate Kyle McAvoy.

• The Big Hit — This film centers on a disastrous kidnapping carried out by a gang of four killers-for-hire. It stars Mark Wahlberg as Melvin Smiley and Lou Diamond Phillips as Cisco, and features China Chow as the daughter of a bankrupt moviemaker.

• The Black Cauldron — The Black Cauldron is a Disney animated fantasy film based on Lloyd Alexander’s series, centered on Taran, Hen Wen, and the Horned King. It is remembered for its dark atmosphere and for being a notable financial failure despite its elaborate animation.

• The Brady Bunch
  • A Very Brady Christmas — A Very Brady Christmas reunites most of the Brady Bunch cast for a holiday TV movie centered on the family’s tangled adult lives. Its climax comes when the family’s caroling helps free Mike Brady from a collapsed building.

• The Brain That Wouldn’t Die — The Brain That Wouldn’t Die is a notorious cult horror film about Dr. Bill Cortner trying to keep his fiancée’s severed head alive after a car crash. The head becomes known as “Jan in the Pan,” and the movie is remembered for its gruesome premise more than its production values.

• The Caine Mutiny
  • Caine — The Caine is the minesweeper commanded by Philip Queeg in The Caine Mutiny and appears in the follow-up Beyond the Poseidon Adventure.
• The Chronicles of Narnia
  • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first film adaptation of C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series, centered on the children who enter Narnia through a wardrobe. It features Tilda Swinton as the White Witch, with Liam Neeson voicing Aslan.

• The Cocoanuts — The Cocoanuts is the first feature film starring the Marx Brothers. It features Groucho running a Florida hotel and Chico helping drive up the price of worthless land at auction.

• The Conjuring Universe
  • The Conjuring — The Conjuring is the horror-film universe centered on paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. It also includes spin-offs such as Annabelle, The Nun, and The Curse of La Llorona through a shared continuity.
    • The Conjuring 2 — The Conjuring 2 is the 2016 supernatural horror sequel directed by James Wan, following Ed and Lorraine Warren as they investigate a possession case in Enfield, London. Its signature monsters include Valak, who appears as a nun, and the Crooked Man, a child-created apparition tied to a toy and a nursery-rhyme style scare.

• The Country Bears — The Country Bears is the Disney film about an anthropomorphic bluegrass band trying to reunite and save their music venue. It features Beary Barrington, voiced by Haley Joel Osment, and a cast built around a Disneyland attraction brought to life as a musical comedy.

• The Croods — The Croods is the DreamWorks animated film about a prehistoric family led by Grug and Eep. Its sequel, The Croods: A New Age, continues the family’s story with Dawn Betterman as a new companion.

• The Dark Knight Trilogy
  • The Dark Knight Rises — This 2012 Batman sequel follows Bruce Wayne after Bane seizes Gotham and turns a fusion reactor into a nuclear bomb. It features John Blake, Catwoman, and the reveal that Miranda Tate is Talia al-Ghul, and ends with Batman apparently last seen in Florence.

• The Devil Wears Prada — The Devil Wears Prada is a film adaptation of Lauren Weisberger’s novel about Andy’s brutal apprenticeship under fashion editor Miranda Priestly. It is remembered for its couture satire, the “cerulean” monologue, and Anne Hathaway’s makeover-driven rise through Runway magazine.

• The Executioner’s Song
  • Gary Gilmore in The Executioner’s Song — Gary Gilmore in The Executioner’s Song refers to the portrayal of the convicted murderer Gary Gilmore in the TV film The Executioner’s Song. The role is the answer when asking which actor played the killer in that dramatization.

• The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu — The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu is a comedy film starring Peter Sellers in his last screen role. One notorious scene has a disguised constable performing “Daddy Won’t You Buy Me a Bow Wow” for the title character.

• The Film’s Work Alone
  • Surf’s Up — Surf’s Up is a 2007 animated mockumentary about surfing penguins, centered on Cody Maverick and his pursuit of the Big Z Memorial contest. Shia LaBeouf voices Cody, and the film also features Chicken Joe and other Antarctic competitors.

• The Firm — The Firm is both a hard-rock supergroup associated with Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers and the title of John Grisham’s legal thriller about Mitchell McDeere. The shared title makes it a common quizbowl name-the-same answer.

• The Frisco Kid
  • Frisco Kid — The Frisco Kid is a 1979 western starring Gene Wilder as an Orthodox rabbi traveling west to San Francisco. He is accompanied by a bank robber played by Harrison Ford, and the story turns on a Torah scroll and frontier travel.

• The Game Plan — The Game Plan is a Disney comedy in which Dwayne Johnson plays quarterback Joe Kingman, who discovers he has an eight-year-old daughter named Peyton. The film also features his agent Stella Peck, dance teacher Monique Vasquez, and the fictional Boston Rebels.

• The Goodbye Girl — The Goodbye Girl is a Neil Simon comedy about Paula McFadden, her daughter Lucy, and actor Elliot Garfield sharing an apartment. Richard Dreyfuss won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Elliot.

• The Great Mouse Detective — The Great Mouse Detective is the Disney film about Basil of Baker Street, a mouse detective modeled on Sherlock Holmes. He battles Professor Ratigan in a story that sends a Holmes pastiche into the British royal court.

• The Great Muppet Caper — This Jim Henson film sends Kermit, Fozzie, and Miss Piggy to London to investigate a jewel theft involving Lady Holiday’s diamond necklace. A thief plots to steal the Baseball Diamond, while songs like “Happiness Hotel” and “Hey! A Movie!” help identify it as the second Muppet feature.

• The Great Santini — The Great Santini is Pat Conroy’s novel about Bull Meechum, a Marine pilot whose harsh discipline strains his family. It was adapted into a 1979 film with Robert Duvall, whose performance earned an Oscar nomination.

• The Hangover — The Hangover is the Las Vegas comedy about a bachelor party gone wrong, with Phil, Stu, Alan, Doug, Mike Tyson’s tiger, and Leslie Chow among the recurring clues. It is especially identified by its “wolf pack” speech, the missing groom, and the group’s attempts to piece together the previous night.

  • Alan Garner — Alan Garner is the bumbling friend played by Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover films. The character is defined by social awkwardness, bizarre one-liners, and escalating chaos across the series.

  • The Hangover Part III — The Hangover Part III is the third and final film in the Hangover trilogy, following the Wolfpack’s misadventures after the events of the earlier movies. Its plot features Marshall, Black Doug, and the chaotic aftermath of Alan’s wedding.

• The Hebrew Hammer — The Hebrew Hammer is a satirical action-comedy about a Jewish vigilante played by Adam Goldberg. It spoofs blaxploitation and crime-film tropes while following Mordechai Jefferson Carver against a villainous Hanukkah-hating plot.

• The Hitcher — The Hitcher is a horror film about a murderous drifter, John Ryder, who terrorizes drivers on the road. It is especially associated with the infamous truck-and-trailer death scene that splits one victim in half, and with Rutger Hauer in the original version.

• The House of Yes — The House of Yes is an indie dark comedy based on Wendy MacLeod’s play, centered on the twisted Jackie-O and her twin brother’s fiancee’s disastrous family visit. Parker Posey plays the Kennedy-obsessed sibling, and Tori Spelling appears in the cast.

• the hunt — The Hunt is a genre title for works about pursuing prey, and in art it can refer to trompe-l’oeil still lifes or hunting scenes. The clue set also points to the BBC nature documentary series about predators and prey and to a Mads Mikkelsen film with the same title.

• The Illusionist — The Illusionist is the title of a largely silent animated film by Sylvain Chomet about a down-on-his-luck magician and a young admirer. The same title also belongs to the 2006 live-action film about the magician Eisenheim, starring Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, and Rufus Sewell.

• The Invention of Lying — The Invention of Lying is Ricky Gervais’s film about a world where nobody lies until his character discovers falsehood. It follows Mark Bellison as he invents the idea of a “Man in the Sky,” writes successful lecture films, and pursues Anna while facing his rival Brad.

• The Jewel of the Nile — The Jewel of the Nile is the sequel to Romancing the Stone, following Joan Wilder and Jack Colton on a Middle Eastern adventure. The title object is a jewel-like artifact rather than the holy man they encounter along the way.

• The Magnificent Seven — The Magnificent Seven is the John Sturges western in which Chris Adams and Vin Tanner lead hired gunfighters defending a Mexican village from Calvera’s bandits. It was inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and is remembered for Elmer Bernstein’s iconic theme.

• The Master of Disguise — The Master of Disguise is the Dana Carvey comedy about Pistachio Disguisey, a man who constantly adopts absurd cover identities. He uses disguises like Terry Suave and joins the Turtle Club while trying to stop Devlin Bowman from stealing the Constitution.

• The Matarese Circle — This spy thriller follows CIA agent Scofield and KGB officer Talaniekov as they team up with a mysterious woman. Together they try to stop a band of assassins that threatens to plunge the world into chaos.

• The Men Who Stare at Goats — The Men Who Stare at Goats is the film adaptation of Jon Ronson’s book about U.S. military psychic experimentation. It follows a reporter investigating George Clooney’s Lyn Cassady and the bizarre history of the First Earth Battalion-style program.

• The Money Pit — The Money Pit is the comedy film about a couple whose dream house turns into a disastrous repair nightmare. It stars Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, and a common clue is the line about a house that buys Walter Fielding and then kills him.

• The Monuments Men — The Monuments Men is the World War II film about an Allied team trying to recover stolen artworks before the Nazis can destroy them. It is associated with George Clooney and Matt Damon and with the real Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives effort.

• The Naked City — The Naked City was a landmark New York police drama, first a film and then a TV series noted for on-location shooting and the line about eight million stories in the city.

• The New Guy — The New Guy is a teen comedy starring DJ Qualls as a nerd who tries to reinvent himself after getting expelled. It features Eddie Griffin as a prison mentor figure and plays on high-school status anxiety and makeover humor.

• The Parent Trap — The Parent Trap is the Disney comedy about identical twins who switch places to reunite their divorced parents. The 1961 version starred Hayley Mills, and the 1998 remake starred Lindsay Lohan in the twin roles.

• The Princess Diaries — The Princess Diaries is Meg Cabot’s novel and its film adaptation about Mia Thermopolis, an American teenager who becomes heir to Genovia. The movie stars Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews and centers on Mia’s awkward transformation into royalty.
  • The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement — The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is the sequel in which Mia Thermopolis is pressured toward a royal marriage and political role in Genovia. Its plot includes Viscount Mabrey, Nicholas Devereaux, and Queen Clarisse’s marriage to Joe at the end.

• The Red Violin — The Red Violin is the film whose score features Joshua Bell as solo violinist. Bell’s street-performance publicity stunt in Washington, D.C., made him a trivia staple, but he is also an acclaimed classical virtuoso and artistic director. The film’s music helped make him widely recognizable outside concert halls.

• The Replacements
  • Washington Sentinels — The Washington Sentinels are the fictional football team from The Replacements. Their strike brings in a ragtag replacement squad led by quarterback Shane Falco.

• The Road to Perdition — Sam Mendes’s The Road to Perdition stars Tom Hanks as a mob enforcer whose wife is murdered, sending him on a violent campaign of revenge. Its story also features Paul Newman, Jude Law, and an opening scene with the brothers Michael and Peter.

• The Road to Wellville — The Road to Wellville is a satirical film about a man’s stay at Dr. John Kellogg’s health farm. It features John Cusack as Charles Ossining and is adapted from T. Coraghessan Boyle’s novel.

• The Running Man
  • Stalkers — The Stalkers in The Running Man are the flamboyant assassins who pursue Ben Richards in the arena. The list includes Subzero, Buzzsaw, Dynamo, Captain Freedom, and Fireball.

• The Savages — This Tamara Jenkins film follows an aging father whose children, a Brecht scholar and an aspiring playwright, must place him in a nursing home. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney play the title family members in the 2007 Oscar-nominated drama.

• The Scout
  • Joe Nebraska — Joe Nebraska is the eccentric pitcher character Brendan Fraser plays in The Scout. He is a comic film role rather than a real athlete, and the name is treated as the character’s full answer.

• The Siege — The Siege is a thriller set in New York City in which terrorist attacks lead to martial law and the detention of Muslim Americans. It stars Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis, and Annette Bening, and its premise drew later controversy for echoing post-9/11 fears.

• The Simpsons

  • A Burns for All Seasons — A Burns for All Seasons is Montgomery Burns’s fictional biopic from The Simpsons, imagined as a lavish film about his life. It is framed as an entry in a Springfield film festival and features Burns playing multiple roles, including E.T., Jesus, and other exaggerated parts.

  • Bright Lights, Beef Jerky — “Bright Lights, Beef Jerky” is Apu’s short film in The Simpsons. It appears as his entry in the Springfield Film Festival.

  • Itchy the Lucky Mouse in Manhattan Madness — Manhattan Madness is identified as the first Itchy cartoon, an early black-and-white animation credited to Chester J. Lampwick in the Simpsons backstory. The film is remembered for its early cartoon violence, including attacks on an Irishman and Teddy Roosevelt, and for being shown through a very old projector in Springfield.

  • McBain — McBain is the fictional action hero played by Rainier Wolfcastle on The Simpsons. The character appears in exaggerated action-movie parodies involving cartel villains, grenades, and self-aware one-liners.

  • Puke-ahontas — Puke-ahontas is Barney Gumble’s parody film in The Simpsons, a mock tragic short centered on alcoholism. It won the Springfield film contest in the episode clue.

  • School of Hard Knockers — School of Hard Knockers is the bawdy college-comedy film Homer watches in The Simpsons episode “Homer Goes to College.” Its plot features Dean Bitterman, the bra bomb, and the post-expulsion election of a Secretary of Partying Down.

  • The Contrabulous Fabtraption of Professor Horatio Hufnagel — The Contrabulous Fabtraption of Professor Horatio Hufnagel is the film within The Simpsons that McClure chooses to direct after passing on McBain’s sidekick role. It appears in the same satirical movie-world as the McBain films and is tied to Springfield’s exaggerated Hollywood production gags.

  • THE MUPPETS GO MEDIEVAL — The Muppets Go Medieval is the Troy McClure film seen in The Simpsons. It is the mock medieval movie in which Kermit appears as a knight and Selma is proposed to with over-the-top pseudo-archaic dialogue.

  • The Simpsons Movie — The Simpsons Movie is the 2007 animated feature based on The Simpsons television series. Its promotion included fake Kwik-E-Marts selling themed products like Squishies and Buzz Cola.

• The Slums of Beverly Hills — The Slums of Beverly Hills is Tamara Jenkins’s debut film, set in 1976 and centered on a family trying to stay within a favored school district. It stars Natasha Lyonne and includes characters played by Alan Arkin and Marisa Tomei.

• The Specialist — The Specialist is an action film starring Sylvester Stallone as a freelance bomber drawn into revenge in Miami. It also features Sharon Stone and is remembered for its explosive climax.

• The Strangers — The Strangers are the aliens in the story whose memory-switching havoc disrupts the residents of a town. The question asks for the name given to these beings rather than the title of the work itself.

• The Substitute — The Substitute is a film series about John Shale, a mercenary who works as a substitute teacher. The later entries include subtitles such as Out of Siberia, The Winner Takes All, and Failure Is Not an Option.

• The Taking of Pelham 123 — The Taking of Pelham 123 is a thriller about men who hijack a New York City subway train during rush hour. The 2009 remake was directed by Tony Scott and stars Denzel Washington and John Travolta.

• The Thin Man
  • Asta — Asta was the wire fox terrier who starred in the Thin Man films and other Hollywood comedies. He is remembered for comic bits opposite Nick and Nora Charles, plus appearances in Bringing Up Baby and The Awful Truth.

• The Toxic Avenger — The Toxic Avenger is a cult superhero film about a weak janitor who falls into toxic waste and mutates. Set in Tromaville, New Jersey, it spawned sequels and a bizarrely comic, trashy reputation.

• The Tuxedo — The Tuxedo is a Jackie Chan action-comedy in which Jimmy Tong winds up wearing a high-tech suit that turns him into an unlikely secret agent. Its villain is a bottled-water mogul with a scheme to dehydrate the world, and the film also stars Jennifer Love Hewitt.

• The Twilight Saga
  • Twilight — Twilight is the 2008 film that adapted Stephenie Meyer’s vampire novel about Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. It is often identified by the baseball scene set to Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole” and by the Quileute legend about the Cold Ones.
• The Twilight Zone

  • Nightmare at 20,000 Feet — “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” is the Twilight Zone story by Richard Matheson about a passenger who sees a gremlin on an airplane wing. It was later adapted into the film Twilight Zone: The Movie, where John Lithgow played the lead role.

  • The Twilight Zone: The Movie

    • Twilight Zone: The Movie — Twilight Zone: The Movie is the 1983 anthology film adapted from the television series created by Rod Serling. It is notorious for the helicopter crash during filming that killed Vic Morrow and two child actors and led to legal action against John Landis and others.

• The VelociPastor — The VelociPastor is the low-budget horror-comedy about a priest who gains the power to become a dinosaur. He teams with a prostitute to fight ninjas, making the film notorious for its deliberately goofy special effects and premise.

• The Whole Nine Yards — The Whole Nine Yards is the phrase and film title associated with the idea of going all the way, and the movie stars Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry. The title refers to a notorious idiom whose origin has been debated.

• Tommy Boy — Tommy Boy is the road comedy starring Chris Farley and David Spade as Tom Callahan’s son and his father’s assistant trying to save the family business. It is remembered for broad slapstick, quotable lines, and the memorable Ray Zalinsky role played by Dan Aykroyd.

• Top Secret! — Top Secret! is the Val Kilmer comedy that parodies both Elvis films and Cold War spy movies. Its memorable line, “I know a little German; he’s sitting over there,” is one of the movie’s best-known clues.

• Troll
  • Troll 2 — Troll 2 is the famously bad 1990 horror film set in the town of Nilbog and treated as a cult object of mockery. It is not actually a sequel to Troll, and the documentary Best Worst Movie was made about its legacy.
    • Nilbog — Nilbog is the backwards-spelled goblin town from Troll 2, a notorious cult film setting. The name is also used for a fictional homeworld and other pop-culture references built from the word goblin reversed.
• Tropic Thunder — Tropic Thunder is the Ben Stiller comedy about actors making a Vietnam War movie and getting trapped in the jungle. Its cast and satire include Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise, and the parody film-within-a-film character Simple Jack.
  • Kirk Lazarus — Kirk Lazarus is the fictional Australian actor played by Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder. He is known for extreme method acting, including skin-darkening surgery to portray an African-American role and the mock trailer Satan’s Alley.

• True Stories — True Stories is a David Byrne-directed film set in the imaginary Texas town of Virgil. It shares its name with a Talking Heads album and mixes surreal vignettes with characters such as John Goodman’s lovelorn singer and a woman who claims to have written “Billie Jean.”

• Tyler Perry — Tyler Perry is the actor, writer, and director best known for creating and playing Madea. He became a major figure in commercial Black film and television, with works such as For Colored Girls drawing both praise and criticism.
  • Madea — Madea is Tyler Perry’s outspoken matriarchal comic persona, introduced in films such as Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Madea’s Family Reunion. She became a recurring film character who is often dragged into court or holiday chaos.
• Uncharted franchise
  • Uncharted 2: Among Thieves — Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the 2009 sequel in which Nathan Drake travels to a Tibetan village and beyond. It won major 2009 Spike Video Game Awards including Game of the Year and Best Graphics.

• Universal Soldier — Universal Soldier is an action film series title most closely associated with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. The clues point to a cyborg resurrection premise and the 1992 film’s over-the-top military science-fiction setup.

• Urban Legends
  • Urban Legends: Final Cut — Urban Legends: Final Cut is a 2000 slasher film set around a film crew at Alpine University. It follows murders staged like folkloric deaths and is a sequel in the Urban Legends horror series.
• Valentine
  • Adam Carr — Adam Carr is the character name given in the clues for the film Valentine. The question links that role to a Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor trivia prompt rather than to a standalone fictional work.
• vampire films

  • The Hunger — The Hunger is a 1983 goth horror film that stars Susan Sarandon, Catherine Deneuve, and David Bowie. Its opening uses Bauhaus’s “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” and Bowie plays a dying vampire opposite Deneuve.

  • Let the Right One In — Let the Right One In is a Swedish vampire film directed by Tomas Alfredson. It centers on Oskar and the vampire Eli, whose actions include protecting him from bullies.

• Very Bad Things — Very Bad Things is a black comedy about a disastrous Las Vegas bachelor party that spirals into murder and cover-up. Its ensemble cast includes Christian Slater, Cameron Diaz, Jon Favreau, Daniel Stern, and Jeremy Piven.

• Vice Versa — Vice Versa is a body-swap comedy in which Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage trade places through a magical skull. The film was released in 1988 and was often compared unfavorably with Big.

• vigilante films
  • The Boondock Saints — The Boondock Saints is a film about Irish vigilante brothers Connor and Murphy McManus. It features Willem Dafoe as FBI agent Paul Smecker and ends with the brothers confronting mobsters in Boston.
• Vince Offer
  • The Underground Comedy Movie — The Underground Comedy Movie is a notorious sketch-comedy film by Vince Offer, built from offensive segments and absurd celebrity cameos. It became better known through aggressive TV-ad marketing and a later sequel title that added 2010.
• Vincent Gallo
  • The Brown Bunny — This Vincent Gallo film is a notorious road picture that stars Gallo himself and Chloe Sevigny. It is remembered for its explicit sex scene, disastrous Cannes reception, and Roger Ebert’s highly negative response.

• Wagons East — Wagons East is a comedy western about settlers trying to head back east rather than stay in the frontier. It is remembered largely because John Candy died while filming it, and it also stars Richard Lewis.

• Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
  • Dewey Cox — Dewey Cox is the fictional rock singer at the center of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, portrayed by John C. Reilly. He parodies the rise, excesses, and breakdowns of rock-biopic heroes through a life of fame, drugs, and reinvention.

• Walking Tall — Walking Tall is the title of a series of films about Buford Pusser, a sheriff known for fighting crime with a wooden club. The story was first filmed in 1973 and later remade, with the 2004 version starring The Rock and Johnny Knoxville.

• Wanted — Wanted is the action film about Wesley Gibson, a downtrodden office worker recruited into the Fraternity of assassins. It is known for its bullet-curving stunts, the Loom of Fate, and its final fourth-wall-breaking line delivered by Gibson.

• War films
  • Sands of Iwo Jima — The Sands of Iwo Jima is a 1949 war film starring John Wayne as Marine Sergeant John Stryker. It follows the training of Marine recruits and culminates in the flag raising on Mount Suribachi after Stryker’s death.

• Weekend at Bernie’s — Weekend at Bernie’s is the black comedy about two insurance workers who pretend their murdered boss is still alive. The title character is Bernie Lomax, whose corpse is dragged around a beach house to deceive others.

• Welcome to Mooseport — Welcome to Mooseport is a comedy about a former U.S. president who runs for mayor against a small-town handyman or plumber played by Ray Romano. It was Gene Hackman’s final film role, and the premise centers on avoiding a losing divorce-related house dispute.

• Western films

  • Bad Day at Black Rock — Bad Day at Black Rock is John Sturges’s 1955 Western about a one-armed stranger played by Spencer Tracy who arrives at the title town after years of train absence. The film is remembered for its race-conscious plot, its Chinatown-linked search for Komoko, and the scene where Tracy’s character overpowers Ernest Borgnine’s thug with karate.

  • Duel in the Sun — Duel in the Sun is King Vidor’s 1946 Western melodrama about Pearl Chavez and the McCanles brothers, ending in a fatal title confrontation. It is often discussed for its lurid sexuality and as a major Selznick production.

  • Open Range — Open Range is the 2003 Kevin Costner western about cattlemen who clash with a brutal ranch owner in the late Old West. Clues often mention Boss Spearman, Charley Waite, and the film’s direction and starring role by Costner.

  • Dances with Wolves — Dances with Wolves is Kevin Costner’s 1990 Western about a Union officer who is sent to a frontier outpost and is drawn into Sioux life. The film won Best Picture and Best Director at the Academy Awards and helped define the revisionist Western boom of its era.

  • Last Man Standing — Last Man Standing is the 1996 Bruce Willis film set in Jericho, Texas, during Prohibition, and it is a direct adaptation of Yojimbo. Willis plays John Smith, who pits rival gangs against each other while cleaning up the town.

  • True Grit — True Grit is the western associated with Charles Portis’s novel about Mattie Ross hiring Rooster Cogburn to track her father’s killer. The 1969 film starred John Wayne as Cogburn, and the climactic chase features his famous cry, “Fill your hands!”

    • Rooster Cogburn — Rooster Cogburn is the one-eyed U.S. marshal from True Grit. John Wayne won his only Oscar for playing him, and Jeff Bridges was later nominated for the role.

• Wild Orchid — Wild Orchid is a film set in Rio de Janeiro that stars Mickey Rourke and Carre Otis, with Jacqueline Bisset also appearing in a related account. It centers on obsession and sexual intrigue around an international law firm and a beach hotel purchase.

• William Peter Blatty
  • The Exorcist III — Exorcist III is the third film in the Exorcist series, directed by William Peter Blatty. It is known for the hospital hallway jump scare and for the Gemini Killer plotline.
• Willow
  • Madmartigan — Madmartigan is the roguish swordsman in Willow, played by Val Kilmer. He helps protect Elora Danan and becomes romantically linked with Sorsha, making him one of the film’s signature swashbuckling characters.

• Without a Paddle — Without a Paddle is a comedy about three friends who go on a disastrous canoe trip while searching for the lost money of D. B. Cooper. The film stars Seth Green, Matthew Lillard, and Dax Shepard, with Burt Reynolds appearing as a mountain man.

• Wrong Turn franchise
  • Wrong Turn — Wrong Turn is a horror film series set in the woods of West Virginia, where deformed cannibals hunt unlucky travelers. Recurring names include Three Finger, One Eye, Saw Tooth, and Maynard.
• X-Men film series
  • X-Men: First Class — X-Men: First Class is the 2011 Marvel prequel that follows a young Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr as mutants are recruited in the early 1960s. Sebastian Shaw serves as the villain, and the plot is set against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

• Zapped! — Zapped! is a teen comedy about a science nerd who gains telekinetic powers. The film stars Scott Baio as Barney and follows the chaos that results from his accidental discovery of telekinesis.

• Zorro
  • The Mask of Zorro — The Mask of Zorro is the 1998 adventure film featuring Don Diego de la Vega and the masked hero Zorro. It is a later remake of the Zorro story first adapted in silent-era cinema.

• Silent Movie — Silent Movie is the Mel Brooks comedy about a director trying to save a studio by making a silent film. Its best-known joke is the appearance of Marcel Marceau, who speaks the film’s only word.

• The Wedding Singer — The Wedding Singer is the Adam Sandler romantic comedy about Robbie Hart, a wedding singer who falls for Julia Sullivan. Its soundtrack mixes 1980s hits with original songs such as ‘Grow Old With You’ and ‘Somebody Kill Me.’

• The Player — The Player is Robert Altman’s Hollywood satire about producer Griffin Mill, played by Tim Robbins. Its famous opening tracking shot and its story of murder, blackmail, and studio politics are among its best-known clues.

• How the West Was Won — How the West Was Won is the 1962 Cinerama Western epic about the Prescott family’s westward journey across generations. It is divided into five segments, including “The Rivers,” “The Plains,” “The Civil War,” “The Railroads,” and “The Outlaws.”

• A Shot in the Dark — A Shot in the Dark is the 1964 Pink Panther farce in which Inspector Clouseau investigates a murder mystery at Benjamin Ballon’s estate. It is based on Marcel Achard’s play L’idiote and features Peter Sellers as Clouseau, with Elke Sommer as Maria Gambrelli.

• Short Circuit
  • Short Circuit 2 — Short Circuit 2 is the 1988 sequel about the robot Johnny 5, who gets drawn into trouble with thieves after an artificial intelligence project escapes. Fisher Stevens and Cynthia Gibb appear in the film, which continues the story of the title robot.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze is the 1991 sequel that continues the turtles’ fight against Shredder and the Foot Clan. It features Tokka and Rahzar, a pizza delivery boy named Keno, and the Vanilla Ice track “Ninja Rap.”
• Johnny Guitar — Johnny Guitar is the 1954 western film starring Joan Crawford as Vienna and Sterling Hayden in the title role. The movie is famous for its melodramatic atmosphere and for being admired especially by some European critics. It also features Mercedes McCambridge as a rival in a gunfight-heavy plot.