MOVIE QUIZ
“Creed III,” the ninth film in the “Rocky” series and the directorial debut of its star, Michael B. Jordan, comes out this weekend. Also, Monday marks the 59th anniversary of the day Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad rechristened just-crowned heavyweight champion Cassius Clay as Muhammad Ali.
And 52 years ago this coming Wednesday, the biggest boxing match in history and arguably the most publicized sporting event ever, took place. “The Fight of the Century” pitted the recently reinstated Ali, stripped of his titles back in 1968 for draft evasion, against current champ Joe Frazier.
So, the Sweet Science is definitely on our minds. That’s why this week’s quiz is all about boxing movies.
1. Which version of “The Champ” was nominated for more Academy Awards, the original 1931 boxing drama starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper or the 1979 remake with Jon Voight and Ricky Schroder?
2. Mark Wahlberg famously played the title role in 2010’s “The Fighter” as reallife boxer Micky Ward. Last year, he starred in another fact-based film about a former pugilist named Stuart Long. Name the movie.
3. What Schenectady native helped finance, produce and play a bit part in 2000’s “Girlfight,” the big-screen debut of both star Michelle Rodriguez and writerdirector Karyn Kusama?
4. Both Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman took home Oscars for playing a boxer and former boxer, respectively, in 2004’s “Million Dollar Baby.” Their costar and director, Clint Eastwood, played a fighter in what 1978 film, the fourth highest-grossing movie of that year?
5. Which one of the following actors in boxing movies was not playing a real-life character: Denzel Washington in “The Hurricane”; Daniel Day-lewis in “The Boxer”; Paul Newman in “Somebody Up There Likes Me”; or Russell Crowe in “Cinderella Man”?
6. One of the stars of the highest-grossing movie in 2022 had the lead role in the
2016 boxing biopic “Let It Bleed.” Who was it?
7. Woody Harrelson played an aging prizefighter in the 1999 commercial and critical flop, “Play It to the Bone.” Harrelson’s “Cheers” predecessor, Nicholas “Coach” Colasanto, was in a much more successful 1980 film as a mobster/boxing promoter. Name it.
8. 50 Cent plays manager to boxer Jake Gyllenhaal in 2015’s “Southpaw,” but what other rapper – whose left-handedness would make the film’s title accurate -- was originally supposed to play Gyllenhaal’s role?
9. Muhammad Ali played himself in 1977’s “The Greatest,” based on his 1975 memoir of the same name (edited by Toni Morrison FYI). What actor — who years before had won a Tony and was nominated for an Oscar for playing a character loosely based on the first Black heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson — played Malcolm X in the movie?
10. The “Creed” trilogy is an expansion of the “Rocky” franchise, with the inaugural 1976 film being nominated for 10 Academy Awards and winning three, including best picture. Out of the six movies bearing the “Rocky” name, only one other was ever even nominated. Which movie was it and in which category?