Deck 7: Shopping Malls, Video Stores, and Cable TV: Movies in the Franchise ERA, 1981-1997

Question 1

After beginning life as the United States Film Festival, this yearly showcase of independent filmmaking has become better known as:

A) The Cannes Film Festival
B) The New York Film Festival
C) The South by Southwest Film Festival
D) The Sundance Film Festival

Answer 1

D

Question 2

This director's work includes Fast Times at Ridgemont High and an adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel Emma set in 1990s Beverly Hills.

A) Susan Seidelman
B) Martha Coolidge
C) Sofia Coppola
D) Amy Heckerling

Answer 2

D

Question 3

This Susan Seidelman movie about a bored housewife who has a liberating adventure in Manhattan featured the movie debut of Madonna.

A) Smithereens
B) Desperately Seeking Susan
C) Valley Girl
D) Clueless

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Radio Raheem, Mookie, and Sal are characters in what landmark Spike Lee movie?

A) She's Gotta Have It
B) Malcolm X
C) He Got Game
D) Do the Right Thing

Question 5

The 1977 documentary Pumping Iron first brought widespread attention to this influential screen figure.

A) Bruce Willis
B) Sylvester Stallone
C) Arnold Schwarzenegger
D) Tom Cruise

Question 6

Which of the following is not a John Hughes movie?

A) Sixteen Candles
B) Rebel Without a Cause
C) The Breakfast Club
D) Weird Science

Question 7

In critical discussions of the controversial slasher movie horror genre, what does the term "Final Girl" refer to?

A) The last victim murdered in the movie before the killer is caught.
B) A potential victim who turns the tables and helps defeat the killer.
C) A series of slasher films featuring a female killer.
D) Women directors of slasher movies.

Question 8

This movie about the struggles of two political refugees from Central America in 1980s Los Angeles is an example of the promise for greater diversity offered by the independent movie movement.

A) Blood Simple
B) Do the Right Thing
C) El Norte
D) Daughters of the Dust

Question 9

Which of the following movies is an example of a movie that ran counter to the "Rambo" trend?

A) Top Gun
B) The Terminator
C) Die Hard
D) Born on the Fourth of July

Question 10

What is one way that the Rambo movie franchise became a political flashpoint in the 1980s and early 1990s?

A) Because of its harsh criticism of US involvement in the Vietnam war.
B) Through its sympathetic portrayal of the anti-war movement.
C) By having a central character who was reluctant to use violence.
D) By seeming to advocate a more aggressive US foreign policy.

Question 11

Which of the following movie watching developments occurred in the mid 1980s?

A) Movie attendance reached an all-time high.
B) Movies became an important part of television programming.
C) More people watched movies at home than in movie theaters.
D) A focus on spectacle and wonder became the main drawing point of movies.

Question 12

Which of the following is not an example of a franchise movie?

A) Pulp Fiction
B) Raiders of the Lost Ark
C) Die Hard
D) Rambo

Question 13

Which of the following is a good example of the business practice of synergy in the movie business?

A) Independent filmmaking
B) Blacklisting
C) Product placement
D) Computer-generated imagery

Question 14

Which of the following best describes the function of a movie studio such as Paramount or MGM in the 1980s?

A) They were mainly centers of financing and distribution for movies.
B) They continued to dominate the physical production of movies.
C) They had largely gone out of business by the mid 1980s.
D) They still had dozens of actors and directors under exclusive contract.

Question 15

Why did some movie companies initially fight the introduction of videocassette recorders?

A) They viewed home recording of movies on television as a form of theft.
B) They were concerned about the loss of revenue for the chains of movie theaters they owned.
C) They discovered that fans were reluctant to buy the official videocassette releases of popular movies.
D) They believed videocassette recorders were too expensive for the average movie fan.

Question 16

What is an important consequence of the videocassette revolution for the ways viewers experienced movies?

A) Average movie fans could compile their own collections of favorite movies.
B) A wider range of international and historic movies became easily available to the average movie fan.
C) The video rental store became an important part of the movie viewing experience.
D) All of the above.

Question 17

Which of the following is an example of the impact of cable television on American movie viewing habits?

A) Viewers became more reluctant to watch movies on their home televisions.
B) Viewers became more and more accustomed to watching movies when they wanted.
C) Viewers still greatly preferred going out to the movies over watching movies at home.
D) Viewers saw their choice of movie watching options begin to diminish.

Question 18

The director Quentin Tarantino is especially known for:

A) The slow, leisurely pacing of his movies.
B) Movies that combine several different genres and styles of screen experiences.
C) Adaptations of literary sources.
D) Movies that reflect a strong film school background.