MOVIE QUIZ

The “Is ‘Die Hard’ a Christmas movie?” debate eternally rages, but consider how the star making his (credited) big screen debut in that classic 1988 action thriller – the late, great Alan Rickman – went on to become a sort of poster boy for alternative Christmas movies.

Besides “Die Hard” there is the obvious “Love Actually,” but also all eight entries in the Harry Potter series, each with varying levels of Christmasness, and – trust us – “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.”

In honor of today’s Christmas Eve celebration and inspired by Rickman’s legacy, let’s look beyond the Scrooges, George Baileys and Cindy Lou Whos for this week’s quiz, and instead dive deep into some out-of-the-(gift)-box holiday films.

1. Dismissed by reviewers and audiences alike when it first came out, 1996’s “The Long Kiss Goodnight” starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson has since earned a cult following and a slightly revisionist critical response. And it begins with Davis riding in a Christmas parade and later features at least one death by Christmas decoration. But the greatest holiday gift might go to screenwriter Shane Black (who also set “Lethal Weapon,” “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” “Iron Man 3” and “The Nice Guys” during the holiday season); he still holds the record for the highest-paid script for this film. Was it:

A. $3 million B. $4 million C. $5 million D. $8 million

2. In the 2015 horror-comedy “Krampus,” based on the Austrian legend of a half-goat/ half-demon beast who punishes naughty children at Christmas, Lumpy the Gingerbread Man is voiced by an actor (with an apt surname for the season) who also starred in the Christmas segment of the 2016 horror anthology, “Holidays,” as a child actor was the title character in 1984’s TV special, “Charlie’s Christmas Secret” and in 2005 voiced Santa Claus, the Little Drummer Boy, Rudolph, Frosty and Jesus in Adult Swim’s “Robot Chicken Christmas Special.” Who is he?

3. The Christmastime setting of the multiplot 1999 crime comedy “Go” might not factor heavily, but it did give us the present of what actress in her movie debut, an actress who has gone on to become a two-time Emmy-winning, twice Oscarnominated – including just last year for an atypical dramatic role – comedy superstar?

4. What raunchy 2015 Christmas Eve-set comedy stars erstwhile big-screen comic book superheroes Green Hornet, Falcon and Robin, as well as supervillain General Zod?

5. In which entry of the eight-film “Rocky” series does the climactic fight take place on Christmas Day?

6. “The Ref,” the 1994 Christmas Eve hostage comedy starring Denis Leary, Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis, was also the initial film for an actor who later appeared with Leary in 1997’s “Love Walked In,” with Davis in Woody Allen’s “Celebrity” in 1998, voiced a Santa-of-sorts in the Oscar-nominated 2019 animated film “Klaus,” and went on to win an Academy Award for best supporting actor for a movie he made 20 years later in 2014. Name him.

7. The appropriately named “Carol” begins with a woman shopping in a 1952 department store for a Christmas gift for her daughter. This acclaimed 2015 film is the second time Cate Blanchett starred in a movie based on a novel by acclaimed author Patricia Highsmith. What was the first?

8. You might not know it, what with the Hawaii locations, but 1987’s “Jaws: The Revenge” takes place during Christmas. Michael Caine famously missed out on claiming his supporting actor Oscar for “Hannah and Her Sisters” because he was busy filming this paycheck flick. But just a few years before, a previous winner of that same award directly followed up his prizewinning performance with one in another critically savaged movie in the “Jaws” franchise. Who was the actor?

9. Which one of the following films is NOT set – at least partially – during the Christmas season: “Brazil,” “Batman Returns,” “Tangerine,” “Eyes Wide Shut,” “Edward Scissorhands” or “In Bruges”?

10. What movie features the following random, nonessential line -- delivered by a character in a Santa suit handing out candy canes – that has gone on to become a pop culture touchstone and ever-present meme: “Glen Coco? Four for you, Glen Coco! You go, Glen Coco!”