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Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Not since Phoebe Cates in Fast Times at Ridgemont High has a movie's female star inspired so many lascivious comments from (male) quiz winners. Lots of people recognized A History of Violence from last week's picture clues, but several just had to make sure I also knew how they felt about the film's leading lady. "Maria Bello is SSSSOOOOOO HOT!" "Maria Bello in a cheerleader uniform-- ay chihuahua!!!" I'll spare you the rest of them, which were similarly filled with exclamation points and turgid capital letters.

(To please her avid fans, I've used the Italian movie poster-- it may be more wrinkly than a pic of the DVD cover, but Maria stands out a little more. You're welcome, pervs!)

A History of Violence (2005) was directed by David Cronenberg (The Fly, Dead Ringers) and starred Viggo Mortensen. One non-lecherous quiz winner, who is also a big Cronenberg fan, wrote, "After having most of his films fail during the '90s, it was great to see him succeed with A History of Violence. For such a violent and unsettling film, it was the most accessible film that he had made for quite some time. Viggo Mortensen, who I never thought much of, really proved himself in this film."

Based on a graphic novel by John "Judge Dredd" Wagner and Vince Locke, A History of Violence is both a slick (with blood?) mystery and an interesting spin on the whole issue of watching and committing violence. The mystery part is from the comic book, which begins with a robbery at the small town restaurant owned by the main character, Tom Stall. What happens (which I won't spoil) pushes him into the media spotlight, and draws the attention of some bad guys who think he's one of them. Is he?

The comic answers the question before the halfway point, but the film version wisely withholds it until the very end. Cronenberg and screenwriter Josh Olson also skip the back story that bloats the graphic novel, and instead focus more on the contagious qualities of violence, both as a participatory and a spectator sport. By the end of the film, nearly everyone in Mortensen/Stall's family has blood on his or her hands, and the scenes become more graphic and-- at times-- grotesquely funny.

Don't think it's possible for ultra-violence to be funny, too? Then watch this ridiculous mashup someone did for youtube (but only if you already know or don't care about the ending), combining the final fight scene with Gershwin's "An American in Paris." Note how the music brings out the comedic movements in William Hurt's Oscar-nominated performance. And for added laughs, the version used is dubbed in French! (WARNING: Very violent.)

A nice, peaceful bunch of winners (excluding the Maria Bello contingent), so congratulations and a good look at Maria's pom-poms to the following quiz winners: Wayne Palmer, Shannon Blatherwick, Jack Sparks, Donald Greene, John Middleton, Dave Mallow, Michael Mattson, Song-Un Lee, Nancy Louise Rutherford, Corey Anderson, Fred Lorence, Kenneth Gramer, Bill Hearne, Spencer Abbe, Thomas Miller, Ron Frigstad (with capital letters!), Bob Redwing, Jeremy Cottrell, Dean Carlson, Bob Aulert, Kevin Musolino, and Vince Tuss.

Posted by Steve Monaco at May 25, 2008 6:03 PM

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