Pop Quiz

Heaven and Helluloid
February 26, 2004

A A A Comments By Ernie Tucker Thursday, Feb 26 2004

1. Colorado will have a presence at this year's Academy Awards ceremony because:

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A. John Sayles's Silver City, shot here and screened secretly in Aspen on December 31, sneaked in under the wire in the Best Adaptation of an Original Adaptation category.

B. Boulder documentarian Sandy McLeod's Asylumis nominated in the Short Subject slot.

C. The metal used to manufacture the Oscar statues comes from a side vein of the Climax Mine outside Leadville.

D. Conifer native Trey Parker's Japanese-language anime, Die, Kenny, Die!, is a Best Animation nominee.

2. Oscar already has a Colorado connection. Who brought home the bacon?

A. Raymond Burr, with his Best Supporting Actor win for Big, Big Man, filmed at the Broadmoor.

B. Diane Keaton, no sleeper in the Best Supporting Actress category with Sleeper.

C. Cinematographer Charles Lightfoot, whose action shots of skiers in Downhill Racer won a prize.

D. Producer Donna Dewey, whose A Story of Healing took top honors in the Documentary category.

3. When Mel Gibson discussed The Passion of the Christ, which opens this week, on James Dobson's radio show, Focus on the Family's father confessed that the movie:

A. "Made me vomit."

B. "Left me with a sense of guilt."

C. "Brought back fond memories of my childhood."

D. "Left me confused, since it was in Latin with English subtitles."

4. Sunday's broadcast of the annual Academy bore-a-thon will be supplemented by the debut of TV ads for what?

A. Coors Ultra-Light, a brand that the Golden brewery claims actually burns calories.

B. Colorado's new $1.3 million tourism campaign, which promises better scenery "than a South Central L.A. nightclub."

C. A refocused United Airlines, the biggest carrier at Denver International Airport.

D. Celestial Seasonings' Zinger-Dinger herbal pills, designed to fight off "unwanted slumbers."

5. Cultural bonus: Before all of these Hollywood upstarts got rolling, Colorado had its own film industry. What was the first "theatrical" film lensed here?

A. The Festival of Mountain and Plain.

B. Daring Dude and the Genesee Robbery.

C. A Peek at Pikes Peak.

D. Bad Girls of Basalt.

Answers:

1. B. McLeod's Asylumgot the nod after it won the 2003 Aspen Shortsfest.

2. D. Donna Dewey won in 1998 for her documentary about plastic surgery in Vietnam.

3. B. Dobson felt guilty -- and about time, too.

4. C. Now that United Airlines is fine-tuning its campaign, can it please quit abusing "Rhapsody in Blue"?

5. A. The Festival of Mountain and Plain did boffo box office in Cripple Creek back in 1897.